AAP’s Delhi leaders flawed in ticket distribution, says Khaira
TALWANDISABO: Backed by leader of Opposition in the Punjab assembly HS Phoolka, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief whip Sukhpal Singh Khaira spilled the beans by raising a voice of dissent against the party’s Delhi leadership at the Baisakhi congregation here on Thursday.
In absence of the central leaders, including Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann, Khaira raised pitch for “introspection”, saying that Delhi leaders flawed in tickets distribution, besides wrongly imposing the “Delhi model” in the Punjab assembly elections.
“We tried to convince them that Delhi model of contesting polls will not work in Punjab, but to no avail. They had the notion that people in Punjab will vote for the party symbol rallying behind one face as happened in Delhi. But people in Punjab vote for a candidate,” said Khaira.
“It was the party’s duty to give tickets after consulting volunteers. The day we compromised on this, it created doubts in voters’ mind. Had we remained firm on our principals, we could have won 100 seats,” he said.
“Inner party democracy is needed so the cadres and the leaders can have their say,” Khaira said, getting applause from the thin crowd that gathered at the party’s congregation.
Asking party’s Delhi leadership to give Punjab leaders command in the state, AAP’s chief whip said: “There might be fault with electronic voting machines, but we should look into the mistakes we committed during campaigning.”