AAP sets up 22-member core panel minus rebels
CHANDIGARH : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) unit in Punjab on Wednesday constituted a 22-member core committee for taking “independently” taking all decisions pertaining to the party in the state.
The committee headed by Budhlada MLA Budh Ram will have Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann, Faridkot MP Sadhu Singh, leader of opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, state unit co-president Dr Balbir Singh, AAP legislature party deputy leader Sarvjit Kaur Manuke, 10 other pro-delhi MLAS, four zone presidents and some others as members.
“The panel will decided everything, from chalking out the political strategy and issues to be raised to planning protests and selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha and other elections in the state,” announced Mann at a press conference here in the presence of most members of the core committee.
8 DISSIDENT MLAS KEPT OUT OF PANEL
None of the eight dissident MLAS led by Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira have been included in the core committee set up a day after Mann, Cheema and several other party leaders met AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi. The committee is being seen as the latest gambit of the party leadership to take the wind out of the rebel Khaira faction’s khudmukhtyari (autonomy) sails.
Of the 20 party MLAS, eight had revolted against the AAP central leadership after Khaira was removed from the post of leader of opposition (LOP) by the Delhi leadership in July this year. The MLAS had organised a separate volunteers’ meet in Bathinda where they decried Kejriwal and other central leaders for running the state party unit in Punjab through SMSES and whatsapp messages and also dissolved the state unit. The committee is being seen as a counter-move to deflate their autonomy campaign.
Mann, who had resigned from the post state convener earlier, said the party had formed a core committee earlier also, but it could not function effectively. Asked why Khaira and other dissident MLAS were not included, he said there were not attending any meetings and also routinely speaking against the party. “Our doors are open for them. The party leadership is for unity in the state’s interest. We are willing to resolve issues. They (dissident leaders) are the ones who chose to hold meetings against the party. If any MLA from the dissident camp wants to join the committee, he is welcome,” he said.
DAY-LONG HUNGER STRIKE ON OCT 7
Mann also announced a day-long hunger strike in front of chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s residence here on October 7 to press their demand for action against former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, in connection with sacrilege incidents and the subsequent police action in 2015.
“Both the Congress and the SAD have politicised the sacrilege issue by announcing parallel rallies in Lambi and Patiala. It is a friendly match,” he said. The AAP rebels are also holding a protest march from Kotkapura to Bargari on the issue the same day.