AAP meeting with Punjab leaders in Delhi indicates 'something is wrong': BJP's Tarun Chugh

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh on Feb 12 castigated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal for calling the party’s Punjab leaders including Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to Delhi for a meeting days after the party’s humiliating defeat in Delhi assembly polls and said the meeting indicated that “something is wrong” within the party.

He claimed that the AAP’s Punjab leadership is nervous after the party's crushing election defeat in Delhi.

“AAP’s meeting tells that something is wrong. The Punjab government has failed on all fronts. Leaders and MLAs of AAP are nervous after Delhi’s defeat… If Kejriwal wanted to meet the leaders of Punjab, then he should have gone to Punjab. He is treating Punjab’s leaders like slaves, this is an insult to Punjab,” Chugh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Chugh added the Punjab government has “failed on all fronts."

Meanwhile, citing protest against Kejriwal after he lost the recent Delhi assembly election, BJP national spokesperson RP Singh alleged that all was not well in Punjab led by CM Bhagwant Mann.

Singh mentioned that four of the 94 MLAs called for the meeting in Delhi did not attend it.

“It is very clear that all is not well in Punjab. There is a protest against Arvind Kejriwal especially after he lost elections in Delhi. 94 MLAs were called to the meeting but four MLAs did not come to the meeting. One MLA openly demanded to remove Bhagwant Mann from the CM post,” Singh said.

Kejriwal met with Punjab CM Mann and MLAs from the state on Feb 11.

Congress Member of Parliament Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Feb 11 also commented on AAP’s recent meeting and said that calling a meeting shortly after the elections only showed that the party would collapse soon.

Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa on Feb 9 claimed that more than 30 AAP legislators in Punjab were in touch with the Congress and ready to switch sides.

Hitting back, Punjab CM Mann rejected Bajwa’s claims of a rift in the Punjab unit of AAP and questioned him on the number of MLAs Congress party had in Delhi.

He also slammed Bajwa for his criticism of law and order in Punjab and said the situation was better than most of the states.

“I would ask Pratap Singh Bajwa to count on how many MLAs they have in Delhi. The law and order of Punjab is better than most states. We have to put in extra effort being a border state, and we are doing that,” Mann told reporters.