harbhajan-singh-s-security-cover-withdrawn-after-aap-exit

Punjab Police has reportedly withdrawn the security cover provided to Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh, one of the seven lawmakers who recently left the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the BJP along with Raghav Chadha, sources said.

 

According to sources, the security detail consisting of around nine to ten Punjab Police personnel was withdrawn on Saturday. The security cover had been deployed at the former Indian cricketer’s residence in the Chhotti Baradari area of Jalandhar.

However, the Central government provided CRPF security cover to Harbhajan Singh. Soon after his cover was withdrawn by the Mann-led Punjab government, CRPF security personnel were seen stationed outside his residence in Jalandhar on Sunday.

 

Meanwhile, AAP workers staged protests on Saturday outside the homes of Harbhajan, Ashok Mittal and Rajinder Gupta after they joined the BJP. Protesters allegedly spray-painted the word “Gaddar” (traitor) on the boundary walls of their residences in Ludhiana and Jalandhar.

 

A day earlier, AAP Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak announced their resignation from the party and joined the BJP along with five other MPs — Mittal, Singh, Gupta, Swati Maliwal and Vikramjit Sahney.

 

Chadha claimed that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had moved away from its founding principles, values and moral commitments, which prompted their decision to join the BJP as a merged faction.

 

Following the mass exit, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann termed the seven leaders “gaddars” and accused the BJP of attempting to weaken the AAP while betraying the people of Punjab.

 

Also read: After defections, AAP workers take protest to MPs’ doorsteps