Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on his former party, the Aam Aadmi Party, alleging misuse of Punjab’s state machinery to target MPs who recently defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party.Chadha, who was part of a delegation that met Droupadi Murmu, accused the AAP-led Punjab government of engaging in “vendetta politics” against dissenting leaders.“After merging with the Bharatiya Janata Party leaving the Aam Aadmi Party, the Punjab government and the Aam Aadmi Party, driven by a spirit of revenge and retaliation, have allegedly engaged in vendetta politics. They have used the state machinery of Punjab to target those MPs who, exercising their constitutional rights, expressed dissent and chose to leave the Aam Aadmi Party. We presented all these developments before the honourable President of India today and conveyed our concerns directly,” Chadha said.
He further alleged selective targeting through multiple agencies. “I would just like to say this… those who themselves go to Rajghat and invoke satyagraha at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial are today using the machinery of Punjab to selectively target us through vigilance inquiries, the Delhi Police, and even the Pollution Board. It is important for the public to know this, and especially for the people of Punjab to be made aware of all these developments,” he added.Another Rajya Sabha member and AAP rebel, Sandeep Pathak, said the delegation had sought constitutional safeguards during the meeting with the President. “We informed the President of the current situation, and she assured us protection under the Constitution,” Pathak said.Meanwhile, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, along with AAP MLAs, was en route to Delhi to meet the President regarding the recent defection of seven Rajya Sabha MPs to the BJP, setting the stage for a political face-off between the two sides.
