NEW DELHI, May 5: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann met with President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Tuesday and urged her to terminate the membership of six Rajya Sabha MPs from the state who recently switched allegiances to the BJP.
On April 24, the Aam Aadmi Party suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs — Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal — quit and merged with the BJP, alleging that the party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals. Six of the seven MPs who left AAP were from Punjab.
Speaking to reporters after his meeting with the President, Mann stated that the six Rajya Sabha MPs who left the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were “selected” by the party’s elected MLAs in Punjab.
“There is a difference between selected and elected. They (MPs) were selected by these MLAs who have been elected by the people of Punjab,” Mann said. The chief minister also presented papers to the President, signed by all AAP MLAs from Punjab, demanding the cancellation of the six MPs’ memberships.
The ruling party MLAs gathered at Rail Bhawan, close to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, exuded hope that the President would do justice to the party. Ahead of the meeting with Murmu, the chief minister said in a post on X, “Our struggle for the protection of Punjab’s rights and interests continues unabated. Today, we have set out in the company of all AAP MLAs to discuss Punjab’s burning issues and present the state’s resounding voice before the esteemed President.” Mann described the defection of the six MPs to the BJP as “absolutely unconstitutional” and a “murder” of democracy. (Agencies)
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