Kejriwal’s apology is reportedly a bid to free himself from the defamation cases he faces, including one by finance minister Arun Jaitley
Chandigarh: Members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, caught off-guard by chief Arvind Kejriwal’s apology to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia, now face a crisis they’ll find hard to overcome.
Kejriwal’s decision to withdraw his accusations against the former Punjab revenue minister has demolished the cornerstone of the party’s anti-Akali narrative in Punjab, where their 2017 assembly election campaign was centred on Majithia’s alleged involvement in a multi- crore drug racket. The party, in fact, had promised to put Majithia behind bars the day they came to power.
Drugs have emerged as one of the most emotive issues in Punjab, reeling under a crippling addiction epidemic that is said to have hit the youth particularly hard. With the SAD-BJP government facing 10 years of anti-incumbency, the AAP’s campaign gained much traction with voters, landing the party 20 seats in its maiden assembly election and making it the second-biggest player after the Congress (77 seats) in the 117-member house. The AAP’s onslaught against Majithia continued after the elections, with the party criticising the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government for going “soft” on Majithia.
With their chief’s apology, the party’s members have been painted as hypocrites in front of voters, and they are seething. Bhagwant Mann, in protest, resigned from his post as the president of the party in the state throwing throwing AAP Punjab into a crisis. In a Twitter tirade, leader of the opposition in the Punjab assembly and AAP MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira termed the apology a “meek surrender”.
“We’re appalled and stunned by the apology of Arvind Kejriwal tendered today,” the Bholath MLA said, adding, “We don’t hesitate to admit that we haven’t been consulted on this meek surrender by a leader of his stature.”
He said he would meet the press Friday to “continue our tirade against the burning issue of drugs destroying the youth of Punjab”.
Also on Twitter, Kharar MLA and journalist Kanwar Sandhu added, “Arvind Kejriwal’s apology to Bikram Majithia in the defamation case on drugs is a let-down to the people, especially the youth of Punjab. We in Punjab have not been taken into the loop.”
Sunam MLA Aman Arora, the deputy convener of the party in Punjab, added, “Shocked & disappointed to know about the apology tendered by Arvind Kejriwal to Majithia. I still believe drugs would not have taken so much (sic) young lives had the previous government not patronised drug mafia.”
Delhi versus Punjab
The party’s Punjab unit is sharply divided between those who owe their allegiance to the Delhi leadership and those who support the state leadership, the latter largely throwing their weight behind Khaira.
Kejriwal’s apology, reportedly a bid to free himself from the defamation cases he faces, including one by finance minister Arun Jaitley, has brought the differences out in the open.
AAP ally in the state, the Lok Insaaf Party (LIP), represented in the house by two brothers, has backed Khaira too.
The Delhi team is considered largely responsible for the AAP losing the 2017 assembly elections, and the state unit now wants to run the show with minimal interference from them.
When Khaira made a bid for the post of the leader of opposition after ‘Team Delhi MLA’ H.S. Phoolka to resume his law practice, party MLAs backed him, the majority of them seeking a strong state leadership independent of Delhi.
In November last year, when Khaira himself was at the receiving end of allegations that he supported a convicted drug smuggler, some AAP leaders, including a handful of MLAs, lashed out. However, he got 14 MLAs to rally behind him and sought action against the dissenters.
Damage control
Facing an open rebellion and a ‘#takebackapology’ campaign launched by supporters, team Delhi backers, in a bid to save face, decided to continue attacking Majithia without targeting Kejriwal.
Harjot Singh Bains, who headed the youth wing of the party in the state, tweeted, “I have seen the pain of parents who lost their young ones due to drugs and they blame Bikram Majithia for it.”
“I still believe Bikram Majithia was involved in drugs until he is given a clean chit after thorough independent enquiry by CBI,” he added.
Sanjay Singh, Kejriwal’s go-to man for the state, quoted a television report aired Thursday to claim the Punjab state task force (STF) on drugs control had indicted Majithia in its report, submitted to the Punjab and Haryana high court on January 31. He tweeted: “Bikram Majithia has ruined the youth of Punjab and action should be taken against Majithia immediately based on the findings of the STF.”
MLA Kanwar Sandhu added, “The STF’s preliminary report on drugs… which establishes prima facie involvement of Bikram Majithia vindicates our stand of a thorough probe into the drugs issue.”
Eyes on Khaira presser
Friday promises to be an action-packed day for the party, beginning with Khaira’s press briefing. Sources said there was a possibility Khaira would make the STF report on Majithia public. But it would make him liable for contempt of court as the HC had ordered the report resealed after its perusal.
Khaira is also expected to get the majority of the state’s MLAs to rally behind him against Kejriwal, with a proposal to seek a withdrawal of the apology likely.