Chandigarh: Hours after two Patiala district legislators, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra and Chetan Singh Jouramajra, quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), senior party leader and general secretary Baltej Pannu on Sunday dismissed suggestions of a rebellion, claiming that the party leadership had already sidelined both MLAs over their activities.
Pannu said their departure would have no impact on the party, alleging that they had been kept away from key party affairs well before submitting their resignations because of their alleged anti-party activities.
He claimed that the two leaders had lost their political relevance and had no option left but to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Taking aim at the BJP, Pannu alleged that the party lacked a political base in Punjab and was facing a shortage of suitable candidates for elections. He claimed that it was therefore attempting to bring in leaders rejected by other political parties.
Describing the BJP as a gathering of leaders who had been sidelined elsewhere, Pannu said Punjab’s voters understood what he called the opportunistic politics of such leaders.
He asserted that the AAP remained strong at the grassroots level and that the departure of the two legislators would further strengthen its organisational structure.
The remarks came amid reports that Pathanmajra, MLA from Sanour, and Jouramajra, MLA from Samana and a former cabinet minister, were preparing to join the BJP after resigning from the Punjab assembly.
