Punjab MLA Sukhpal Khaira has resigned from primary membership of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), ANI reported.

In a letter to party chief Arvind Kejriwal, Khaira said the AAP had "totally deviated" from the ideology and principles on which it was formed after the Anna Hazare movement.

This comes days after senior advocate HS Phoolka, who is fighting the legal battle for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims, resigned from the AAP on Thursday.

The AAP is the principal opposition party in Punjab.

But of the 20 party candidates who were elected after the Punjab assembly polls in 2017, eight formed a rebel group led by Sukhpal Khaira last year.

Khaira was suspended from the AAP in November.