Khaira dares AAP to file plea for his disqualification
CHANDIGARH: Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Monday dared the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders to file a petition before the assembly speaker to get him disqualified for quitting the party.
Khaira, who resigned from the AAP on Sunday, said (Delhi deputy chief minister) Manish Sisodia and (Sangrur MP) Bhagwant Mann were repeatedly asking him to resign from the membership of the state assembly purely out of hatred. “They keep saying that I got elected from Bholath because of Kejriwal. The fact is people voted for my work. My family has been working in the area for decades,” he said at a press conference here.
The two-time MLA said if they were attributing his victory to Kejriwal’s sway, what about the 97 seats that the party lost in the state assembly elections. “The AAP had fought 117 assembly seats, but won just 20. Who was responsible for the defeat on remaining seats?” he asked.
Khaira, who will announce his new political party on Tuesday, resigned from the AAP, but not from the state assembly and stares at disqualification under the anti-defection law.
The Bholath MLA insisted that it was not about his seat as he was ready to contest any election.
‘JAITU MLA TO RESIGN FROM AAP SOON’
Khaira, who along with seven other legislators revolted against the AAP leadership after his removal from the post of leader of opposition, said that Jaitu MLA Master Baldev Singh would also resign from the party soon. He has support of six dissident MLAS.
“We do not want other rebel MLAS to quit the party and pave the way for Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal to become the leader of opposition in the state,” he said, scoffing at the AAP leaders’ statements asking him to resign from the assembly.
When contacted, Baldev Singh said he was consulting his supporters and other volunteers in the constituency on future strategy. “I will decide on this after taking their views. However, I will be present at the launch of the new party by Khaira in Chandigarh on Tuesday,” he said.
Maur MLA Jagdev Singh Kamalu and Mansa MLA Nazar Singh Manshahia, who continue to support Khaira, said they would not quit the party because their supporters wanted them to continue in the state assembly.