Bhagwant Mann resigns as AAP Punjab chief, Lok Insaf Calls Off Alliance with the party

NEW DELHI: Miffed with AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal’s apology to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia, party’s Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann resigned as its Punjab unit chief and Lok Insaf Party called off its alliance with AAP. Leader of Opposition in Punjab assembly, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, and AAP’s Punjab coconvenor Aman Arora have also resigned from their posts. The party leadership is yet to accept the resignations. AAP’s Punjab in-charge Manish Sisodia said that Delhi leaders will work with Punjab leaders. “All of us are together, we will talk to them, they will understand,” Sisodia said.

AAP’s Punjab unit is mainly divided between those who owe their allegiance to the Delhi leadership and those who support the state leadership, headed by Khaira, who on Friday said Kejriwal is “mentally weak”. ET has learnt that at least 15 out of 18 MLAs have seriously objected to the decision.

AAP’s Punjab MLA Kanwar Sandhu said “there was still a consensus to be arrived” on the future course of action. “There is a feeling that we need to function independently, but we still have to arrive at a decision,” Sandhu told reporters after a meeting of party MLA’s on Friday evening in Punjab.


An AAP MLA told ET that party members were upset because Kejriwal’s statement derails party’s anti-Akali politics that got it seats in the key Malwa region of the state. “We have one seat in Jalandhar and one in Hoshiarpur, and the Ludhiana region was fortified by the alliance with LIP.

This move has weakened the position of AAP MLAs who had fought 2017 Punjab polls on Majithia’s alleged involvement in a multi-crore drug racket,” an AAP MLA said.

Kejriwal’s apology, reportedly a bid to free himself from the defamation cases he face, has brought the differences out in the open.

Meanwhile, LIP leader and MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains said his party will continue to support AAP MLAs from outside.