Punjab Ekta Party (PEP) leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who floated his outfit after quitting the Aam Aadmi Party, resigned from the state Assembly Thursday as Bholath MLA to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Bathinda.
"Since, I will be filing my nomination papers as the Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) candidate from the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat tomorrow, I have decided to relinquish my Bholath seat as an MLA to uphold morality and ethics in politics," Khaira wrote in the resignation letter.
The PDA, which is fighting on all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, comprises PEP, Bahujan Samaj Party, Lok Insaaf Party, Nawan Punjab Party, Communist Party of India and Revolutionary Marxist Party of India (RMPI).
Lashing out at Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, Khaira said in the resignation letter, "I was elected as MLA Bholath in 2017 on the AAP symbol. My joining AAP was based on the revolutionary and lofty promises made by its convener Arvind Kejriwal. Unfortunately, he has not only dashed hopes of millions of people of India but stooped to the lowest level of cheap politicking for petty personal gains."
Khaira, who had joined the AAP in 2015, quit the party in January this year after he was removed from the post of the Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly.
The AAP had also been seeking disqualification of Khaira as an MLA after he floated the PEP.
The rebel AAP leader will be locked in a contest with sitting MP, Union minister and SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Congress' Gidderbaha MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and AAP's Talwandi Sabo legislator Baljinder Kaur.
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