Chandigarh: Hitting back at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over its protests against Rajya Sabha MPs who switched to the BJP, Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma on Tuesday defended the leaders, saying those being labelled as "traitors" were known for their hard work and achievements and had brought global recognition to Punjab and Punjabis.
Addressing a press conference here, Sharma took exception to AAP activists branding MPs Rajinder Gupta, Ashok Kumar Mittal, Harbhajan Singh and Vikramjit Singh Sahney as "traitors", and highlighted their contributions to industry, education, sports and social service.
Sharma targets CM Mann
He also targeted Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, saying he had been vocal on various issues but remained silent on allegations made by Raghav Chadha and other leaders accusing AAP of compromising its principles and indulging in corruption.
"If changing parties is considered 'betrayal', then Bhagwant Mann himself is a traitor for having switched parties," Sharma said. Before he had joined AAP, Mann had worked with the now-defunct, Manpreet Badal-led People's Party of Punjab, or PPP, which contested and lost the 2012 assembly elections in Punjab. Sharma added several members of Mann's cabinet — including Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, Aman Arora, Barinder Kumar Goyal, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Tarunpreet Singh Sondh, Hardeep Singh Mundian and Lal Chand Kataruchak — had also joined AAP from other parties. Similarly, he said, leaders such as Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, Harmeet Singh Sandhu, Ishank Kumar and Mohinder Bhagat, who joined AAP and contested by-elections, would also fall under the same label if AAP's argument were applied consistently.
Former AAP leaders raised questions
Sharma further said several former AAP leaders — Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Kumar Vishwas and Alka Lamba — had raised serious questions about Arvind Kejriwal's leadership, the party's policies and its credibility while leaving. "The same concerns are now being raised by Rajya Sabha MPs, but there has been no response so far," he added.
