CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday launched a sharp attack on seven Rajya Sabha MPs who have quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), using a culinary analogy to downplay their individual political weight. In a post on His remark came a day after he described the defectors as “traitors”. The political row erupted after AAP Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak announced on Friday that they were quitting the party and joining the BJP along with five others. The other leaders named in the move were Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Swati Maliwal, and Vikramjit Sahney. Chadha alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP had deviated from its founding principles, values and core morals, which prompted his decision to join the BJP. He said the seven had effectively merged with the BJP as a faction. Following the developments, Mann accused the BJP of attempting to destabilize AAP in Punjab and described the leaders’ move as a betrayal of the people of the state. He also linked the BJP’s alleged discomfort to the passage of a strict law against sacrilege. “Ever since a strict law against ‘beadbi’ (sacrilege) was enacted, the BJP’s unease had become evident,” he said. Mann further claimed that none of the seven Rajya Sabha members had a mass political base. “Even a ‘sarpanch’ has a vote bank. Do they have any vote bank?” he asked. He also alleged that the BJP, unable to gain ground in Punjab, was resorting to “intimidation, inducements, and engineering defections” to weaken what he called a corruption-free government. Mann added that the party was unsettled by what he described as visible improvements in schools, hospitals, roads, and employment opportunities in the state.
