Eye on LS polls, state AAP warms up to SAD (Taksali)
DINNER MEET Bhagwant Mann meets Khadoor Sahib MP Brahmpura at his Amritsar residence seeking an alliance, hours after Sukhpal Khaira’s resignation from party
AMRITSAR: Hours after rebel Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to float a new political outfit, the party’s Punjab leadership approached the newly launched Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali) with a view to forming an alliance keeping in mind the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Expelled from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) after raising a banner of revolt against party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, three Majha Akali stalwarts along with some other ‘marginalised’ taksali leaders had launched SAD (Taksali) on December 16, with Khadoor Sahib MP Ranjit Singh Brahmpura its president.
Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann visited Brahmpura at the latter’s residence opposite Khalsa College, Amritsar, on Sunday night. The meeting that lasted one-anda-half-hours was kept a hushhush affair.
However, the two leaders on Monday told HT that the meeting concluded on a positive note.
It was learnt that Mann had sought an appointment with Brahmpura to convey AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wish to form an alliance in the parliamentary polls.
Speaking to HT over phone, Mann said, “We (he and Brahmpura) already share a good relation as meet during Parliament sessions. During the meeting, I suggested him to contest the polls together. People of Punjab have been victimised by both the SAD-BJP and the Congress regimes. If we contest the election separately, votes will be divided and the Congress and the SAD will take advantage of this.”
Brahmpura asked me to clarify whether we are allying with the Congress or not. I made it clear that we cannot form any alliance with the Congress at any level. BHAGWANT MANN , AAP leader
If the idea of forming an alliance was of Kejriwal’s, he said, “Not only Kejriwal, the state party leaders also want the same as the taksali leaders revolted against the wrongdoings of the Badal family. It is a known fact that the previous SAD-BJP government pushed the state youth into drugs and the mafia also flourished during its tenure. With our party already raking up the issue of these wrongdoings, the agenda of both the parties is the same.”
“The discussion took place in a very positive environment. Besides Brahmpura, his son Ravinder Brahmpura was also present,” he said.
Interestingly, Brahmpura along with other taksali leaders had talked to Khaira recently and held a meeting with Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) leaders Simarjeet Singh Bains and Balwinder Singh Bains for forming an alliance.
Asked if they will go ahead with their plan if the SAD (Taksali) allies with Khaira and the Bains brothers, the AAP MP said, “This is a hypothetical question. Khaira is yet to float his party. Brahmpura and other taksalis have launched their party. As far the Bains brothers are concerned, their tie-up with the SAD (Taksali) has not materialised yet. The SAD (Taksali) has also not joined the Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) which was recently been announced by Khaira, Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi, the Bains brothers and other splinter groups of SAD.”
“Mr Brahmpura asked me to clarify whether we are allying with the Congress or not. I made it clear that we cannot form any alliance with the Congress at any level. We are not bothered about the seat calculation. In the national capital, the Congress has no MP or MLA. In Punjab too, we have won on our own. Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh knows that well since we defeated his wife from their home turf,” he said.
Brahmpura said, “The meeting was positive. Mann also had dinner with us. We will take the final decision in this regard in a week by calling a meeting of the core committee of our party.”
“All Punjabis are yeaning for change in the state’s political landscape. It can become a possibility only when all the likeminded parties come on a single platform,” he said. He, however, didn’t rule out the possibility of an alliance with Khaira and the Bains brothers.
ANTI-DEFECTION LAW NEEDS TO REVIEWED
Khaira, a former leader of opposition in Punjab assembly, demanded review of the anti-defection law, saying that its stringent provisions had throttled the voice of people in parties and turned their top leaders into dictators.
“The members have been reduced to being just slaves and follow the directions of the top brass of their parties. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are behind this law, but I cannot understand why the AAP, which talked of bringing transparency, is threatening to disqualify its members by using the anti-defection law,” he said, adding: “I want to generate a debate on this issue”.