The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday won a vote of confidence in the Punjab Assembly, days after a Rajya Sabha debacle in which seven MPs, including Raghav Chadha, “joined” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann slammed rumors of a split in the party.
During a special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann expressed confidence and said that the Aam Aadmi Party is strong and continues to grow. He said in the House that rumors suggesting that the party would collapse and that its MLAs might fail were misleading and creating a false impression among the public.
“All speculations have been put to rest today regarding everyone who said 65 or 40 AAP MLAs are leaving,” Mann said, according to ANI.
“The party is strong. From Jammu and Kashmir to Goa, the party has representation. We have an MLA in J&K’s Doda. Our government in Punjab is functioning successfully. We are in opposition in Delhi. We have five MLAs in Gujarat, two in Goa. Besides, AAP has its mayors, councillors, sarpanches have national representation in various places,” PTICM said.
The ruling party had earlier issued a whip ordering all its legislators to attend the one-day session. In the 117-member Punjab Assembly, AAP has a commanding majority with 94 MLAs, while Congress has 16 members, BSP one, SAD three, BJP two and there is one independent.
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When Mann moved the motion of confidence, most of the opposition members were absent from the House. Only independent MLA Rana Inderpratap Singh was present as the Congress staged a strike and the BJP boycotted the session, while a SAD MLA and a lone BSP legislator were also absent.
Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, who supported the motion, criticized the BJP-led central government over the defection of seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs. He also accused the BJP-led government of misusing central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation against its political opponents. Cheema further alleged that the BJP government was indulging in “gundagardi” (hooliganism).
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MLA Manjit Singh Bilaspur said that they will remain staunchly loyal to the party and will support it unflinchingly. “We are in the party and will continue to remain in the party,” said Bilaspur, MLA from Nihal Singh Wala seat.
Minister Sanjeev Arora said that in the last four years, the AAP government has provided social initiatives for the public on a scale unmatched by previous governments in the last 70 years. He also highlighted the provision of free electricity to the domestic sector.
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Kharar MLA Anmol Gagan Maan mentioned, “We will remain loyal soldiers of AAP till our last breath.”
7 AAP RS MPs resign, join BJP
The AAP faced a major setback on April 24 when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs – Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal – resigned and joined the BJP, claiming that its founding values had deviated from its ideals and principles. Six of those who left were from Punjab.
Rajya Sabha Speaker CP Radhakrishnan formally accepted their merger with the BJP on Monday, reducing the strength of Arvind Kejriwal’s party in the upper house to just three members.
