‘Mann Ki Baat’: We waged a fight against drugs, but general went and apologised
CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state president Bhagwant Mann, who resigned on the issue on Friday, said national convener Arvind Kejriwal had betrayed the people of Punjab.
Calling the apology a ‘blunder’, Mann said party volunteers and leaders were fighting on the drugs issue, but the jarnail (general) had gone ahead and apologised to Majithia without consultation.
“About 34 lakh people had voted for the party and probably 25 lakh of them even put up posters on this issue. Has Kejriwal apologised on their behalf or he just went alone to Majithia to ask for forgiveness? This thing has come as a shock for everyone,” he added.
Mann, the Lok Sabha MP from Sangrur and arguably the most popular face of the party in the state, posted a tweet in the morning to announce his resignation.
He had been appointed in May. On his resignation, the AAP leader said there was democracy in the party and it was his right to protest.
The comedian-turned-politician said he was left with no option because Kejriwal tendered the apology without any consultation.
“If such a thing is done, I do not think there is any point in continuing in the position of the state chief,” he said, adding, “This post or being a member of Lok Sabha do not matter to me because I had staked my career and everything else in this fight.”
On the impact of the apology on the party’s prospects in the state, Mann, who has already started working in his constituency for the parliamentary election next year, said, one decision would not alter its future.
“Two months ago, many people were raising questions about the future of the Samajwadi Party. Now, when it has won Gorakhpur, the same people are wondering about the BJP’s prospects,” he said. “I will continue as an ordinary worker,” he added.