AAP Lok Sabha MP from Punjab's Anandpur Sahib Malvinder Singh Kang on Monday strongly criticised seven Rajya Sabha MPs who recently defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing them of ‘betraying’ the Aam Aadmi Party despite the respect and opportunities it had given them.
Kang also asserted that AAP legislators in Punjab remain united behind Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Responding to questions about the resignations, he alleged that the MPs switched sides due to ‘personal interests’.
“They betrayed the party which gave them a lot of respect. They joined a political party that has consistently tried to divide society,” Kang said. He further claimed that some of the defecting MPs may have been influenced by pressure from central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, suggesting they acted to safeguard their personal or business interests.
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Reiterating the party’s stance in Punjab, Kang said all AAP MLAs in the state stand firmly with Bhagwant Mann and that the party will continue working for the welfare of the people.
The remarks come days after a major setback for AAP, when seven of its ten Rajya Sabha MPs — Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal — resigned from the party and merged with the BJP. They alleged that AAP had deviated from its founding principles, values and core ideals.
Notably, six of the seven MPs who left the party were from Punjab, dealing a significant blow to AAP’s presence in the state. On Monday, Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan formally accepted the merger of the seven MPs with the BJP, reducing the strength of Arvind Kejriwal’s party in the Upper House to just three members.
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