NEW DELHI, Apr 26: Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh on Sunday dismissed claims that party MLAs in Punjab are in contact with Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, who recently joined the BJP, labelling such developments as “misinformation and rumours.”
Singh accused the BJP and Raghav Chadha of deliberately spreading these rumours and noted that protests are being held across Punjab against the “betrayal” by Chadha and other Rajya Sabha MPs who left AAP to join the BJP.
“The public sentiment is against them for betraying AAP and Punjab,” Singh claimed during a press conference.
On Friday, the AAP suffered a jolt when Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikram Sahni and Swati Maliwal quit and merged with the BJP, alleging that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
“According to the Constitution, two-thirds of the total MPs of a party can merge with another party,” Chadha said, pointing to the fact that AAP had a total of 10 MPs in the Rajya Sabha.
Except for Maliwal, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Delhi, all the others are from Punjab.
Singh asserted that Chadha and the others who left AAP for the BJP are likely to lose their Rajya Sabha memberships, as he believes no MLA would want to risk their future by aligning with them. “Would anyone wish to join him and risk their own membership being cancelled? Everyone understands this in politics,” Singh remarked.
He reiterated that the claims regarding Punjab MLAs maintaining contact with Chadha are nothing more than misinformation and an attempt to spread rumours.
Additionally, Singh mentioned that he has submitted a petition to the Rajya Sabha chairman requesting the termination of the memberships of the seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who switched to the BJP. (Agencies)
