Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday met President Droupadi Murmu and sought cancellation of the membership of seven Rajya Sabha MPs who recently left AAP and joined BJP.
Speaking to reporters after meeting the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mann described the merger as “unconstitutional” and said it amounted to a serious violation of democratic norms.
Mann said the Constitution was undermined when seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs declared themselves a separate group and merged with the BJP. He said the party has formally demanded cancellation of their memberships and warned that any misuse of Central power in Punjab would be strongly opposed.
He also questioned how such defections could be legally justified. Mann said leaders unhappy with AAP should have first resigned and then sought a fresh mandate from the people instead of switching parties while retaining their seats.
“Seven out of ten of our MPs cannot just get up and say they are going to merge with another party. There is no such law and they cannot do whatever comes to their mind. The country runs according to the law...If they disliked the Aam Aadmi Party so much, they should have resigned. After resigning, they could have been elected from anywhere...I told the President how democracy is currently being made a mockery of in Punjab...BJP has just two MLAs but it has suddenly gained six Rajya Sabha MPs. Their membership should be revoked...If there is no provision for recall, then bring an amendment,” Mann told mediapersons.
The development follows a major political shift in which seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs from Punjab, including Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, and Ashok Mittal, joined the BJP.
Following the merger, the BJP’s strength in the Rajya Sabha rose to 113 seats, dealing a significant setback to AAP, whose representation in the Upper House has now reduced to three members.
Earlier in the day, Chadha alleged that he could be the “next target” of the Punjab government. He made the remarks after separately meeting President Murmu and raising concerns over what he termed political vendetta against the MPs who left AAP.
Addressing a press conference after his meeting with the President, Chadha accused the Punjab government of using state agencies and public funds to threaten the seven former AAP MPs. He claimed pressure was being created through official mechanisms and social media campaigns.
“I want to tell AAP that they have started a dangerous game of revenge with the help of the Vigilance Board and Pollution Board, but the end will be really bad. According to sources, I will be their next target. The Punjab govt hired agencies to threaten us on social media. AAP is doing this using Punjab government funds. This is the reason I said AAP is stuck in the hands of corrupt and compromised people,” Chadha added.
Earlier, while speaking to reporters in Karnal ahead of the meeting, Mann questioned whether leaders become “above the law” after joining the BJP. He said the law must remain supreme and warned against allowing groups of legislators to declare themselves separate parties without legal basis.
“There should be a law; otherwise, five people from a party will claim that they are a different party. Can someone be above the law after joining the BJP? The law is supreme. I will inform the President and apprise her about everything,” Mann had said.
Also read: AAP, BJP two sides of same coin: Bajwa
Follow us
