Rift within leaves AAP bruised ahead of Punjab budget session
DIVIDED HOUSE With distrust among legislators deepening, party’s ability to land blows on government may receive a hit
CHANDIGARH: The discord in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab over its national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s apology to Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia has come as a setback for the party just before the budget session.
Only a week ago, the AAP was preparing to launch a blistering attack on the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government for failing to fulfil its election promises.
AAP MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, the leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly, who had effectively led the charge on the government during the winter session, announced plans to bring out an “extensive chargesheet” against the state government, listing its failures, and then go after it with all guns blazing during the budget session.
CHANDIGARH: The discord in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab over its national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s apology to Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia has come as a setback for the party just before the budget session.
Only a week ago, the AAP was preparing to launch a blistering attack on the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government for failing to fulfil its election promises. AAP MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, the leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly, who had effectively led the charge on the government during the winter session, announced plans to bring out an “extensive chargesheet” against the state government, listing its failures, and then go after it with all guns blazing during the budget session.
But before the AAP and its firebrand leader could thrum into top gear, the news of Kejriwal’s apology to Majithia in a defamation case came out. All hell broke loose and furious MLAs, worried about the political implications of their chief’s act, revolted against the leadership, threatening to split the party.
Though the break-up threat fizzled out after 10 of the 20 MLAs met Kejriwal on Sunday and endorsed his rationale behind the apology, the party’s script to take on the Amarinder government seems to have gone haywire. As planned, Khaira and others released the “chargesheet” on Friday, accusing the state governmentof corruption, betraying the farmers on debt waiver, failure to curb mining mafia, going soft on the Badal family and its over-dependence on babus.
It got lost in brouhaha over the apology, with hardly anyone taking note of the principal opposition party’s charges against the Congress government on completion of one year. Khaira held a meeting of the AAP legislature party to discuss their strategy in the budget session commencing Tuesday. Though he full-throatedly voices his views after such meetings, Khaira was not in his element this time, making do with a brief press note after the meeting. While both sides maintained uneasy silence on the apology episode throughout the day, last week’s dramatic developments appear to have deepened the distrust among some prominent leaders that will be hard to bridge. There have already been worries in the party on account of lack of cohesion among its leaders and the present situation does not augur well.
However, state AAP co-president Aman Arora said difference of opinion on the apology issue was a matter within the party: “It’ll have no bearing on MLAs’ performance in the assembly. We will raise issues of people and take on the government.” Also, the two-member Lok Insaaf Party (LIP), its pre-poll alliance partner, has snapped its ties with the AAP on the apology issue.
FLOOR STRATEGY
A day after their meeting with the party’s top leadership brought out a sharp divide in the state unit, Punjab AAP MLAs met in Chandigarh on Monday to discuss their strategy for the budget session of the state assembly.
Of the 20 MLAs, 15 attended the meeting held by AAP legislature party leader Sukhpal Khaira at his residence. Those who did not attend the meeting included Kultar Singh Sandhwan, Baljinder Kaur, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, Budh Ram and HS Phoolka.
Khaira said some MLAs expressed inability to attend the meeting due to pressing circumstances. “The party has decided to forcefully take up the issues of farmers’ and labourers’ suicides, false promise of one job per family, failure to curb drugs, mining and great discrimination with weaker sections of the society during the session,” he said.
While the meeting was held in the backdrop of serious differences among the party legislators over Delhi chief minister and national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s apology, AAP legislature party deputy leader Sarvjit Kaur Manuke and state unit co-president Aman Arora said the issue was neither discussed nor referred to in the meeting. “The meeting was held to discuss the floor strategy in the House,” said Manuke.