New Delhi, May 5: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann met with President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi on Tuesday to formally protest the defection of seven Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha members to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Chief Minister characterized the transition of these legislators as a violation of constitutional mandates and urged for the immediate cancellation of their parliamentary memberships.
The delegation argued that the lawmakers bypassed legal protocols by claiming to represent a separate entity before finalizing their merger with the BJP. This move followed the April 24 departure of Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney, and Swati Maliwal, six of whom represent Punjab.
“Punjab is not a truck that anyone would take turns to drive,” Mann stated during a press briefing after the meeting. He affirmed that the state has historically stood at the forefront during national adversity and would not succumb to external political pressures. The Chief Minister maintained that the current administration remains prepared to act if central authorities attempt to exert similar influence over Punjab’s legislative stability.
Addressing recent suggestions from BJP leadership regarding future political shifts in the state, Mann noted that the BJP currently holds only two seats in the Punjab Assembly. He asserted that this presence could diminish entirely in upcoming cycles. “We have made it clear that the cheap tactics of ‘Operation Lotus’ in Punjab will never succeed,” Mann declared, adding that the state’s representatives carry the mandate of millions who do not tolerate betrayal.
