Chandigarh, April 24
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday sharply criticised former colleagues who resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), calling them “traitors” and accusing them of going against the will of the people.
Speaking at a press conference at Chandigarh after returning from an overseas visit to Europe, Mann alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was attempting to weaken his party by encouraging defections. He said such moves amounted to a “betrayal” of Punjab’s voters.
“They could not find anything against me, so they tried to break the party,” he said, adding that AAP continued to enjoy strong public support in the state. His remarks came hours after AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs, including Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak, announced they were leaving the party to join the BJP. Chadha claimed that nearly two-thirds of AAP’s upper house members had quit and would form a separate group aligned with the BJP.
Other leaders, including Swati Maliwal and Harbhajan Singh, were also named among those who resigned. Mann downplayed the impact of the departures, saying a handful of leaders did not represent the people of Punjab. “The party is bigger than any individual,” he said.
The developments mark a significant moment in Punjab politics, raising questions about AAP’s strength in Parliament and the BJP’s efforts to expand its influence in the state.
