Rift in AAP’s Punjab unit set to widen

The rift in the Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab unit is only set to widen with the two suspended MPs refusing to curb their criticism of the party’s top leadership and the Yogendra Yadav-led Swaraj Abhiyan throwing its weight behind them.

Party rebels and oustees joining hands could pose problems for the AAP which sees itself as a strong challenger to the SAD-BJP combine in Punjab.

However, AAP leaders in New Delhi maintained that the suspensions would “end the confusion they [the suspended MPs] were trying to create.”

Suspended Fategarh Sahib MP Harinder Singh Khalsa told

The Hindu , “Workers and volunteers in Punjab who are feeling sidelined by the central leadership are keen on forming a party. There is not one member from Punjab in the Political Affairs Committee.” The PAC had suspended Mr. Khalsa and his counterpart from Patiala Dharam Vira Gandhi on August 30. Together, they constitute half of the AAP’s strength in Parliament.

Dr. Gandhi too has refused to tone down criticism of the party after the suspension. “I have not received any notice for suspension. They have only made a statement in the media. I have hired a lawyer and will act after I receive the notice,” he said, adding that the PAC’s allegations were defamatory.

“They have accused me of siding with the SAD whereas all my life I have stood against the Akalis misusing their powers.”

Mr. Yadav met the two on Sunday. Swaraj Abhiyan estimates that a SAD-BJP split is imminent in Punjab and senior leaders from the formation have identified the two suspended AAP MPs as “the sole proponents of alternative politics” in that State.

The splinter political formation has also decided not to directly contest the polls in what happens to be both a symbolic rejection of the “Delhi AAP's high-command culture” and a tactical decision enabling it, instead, to have a lasting impact on veering the direction of Punjab's politics to local issues such as farmers' compensation among other grass roots concerns.

“We believe both Dr. Gandhi and Mr. Khalsa are the only faces that have the ability to deliver on alternative politics in Punjab and will rally behind them,” Professor Anand Kumar, founder member of the Swaraj Abhiyan, told The Hindu.

“In addition to that, the Swaraj Abhiyan will seek to identify more alternatives to the faces currently representing the political leadership in that state so that the electorate gets an opportunity to make a truly informed choice,” Prof. Kumar added.