More Punjab AAP leaders ‘keen’ to switch to Cong

A day after Congress leaders spoke against a probable alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab for the Lok Sabha polls, state unit chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring added fuel to the fire on Wednesday, saying some MLAs and other leaders of AAP were keen to join the Congress as they were feeling slighted.

Speaking on the occasion of former Aam Aadmi Party youth wing president Gurtej Singh Pannu joining the Congress, Warring said the bubble of AAP being a democratic party had burst and its leaders were looking at the Congress as a stable alternative.

Coming down hard on the Bhagwant Mann government, Warring said, “By withdrawing the decision of holding panchayati elections and then zila parishad elections shows the complete incompetency of the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government. Now instead of apologising and accepting his mistake, the CM has put the blame on officers even though the final signatures are of the appointed minister and the chief minister.”

Targeting the ruling AAP, leader of opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa also categorically said that the sentiments of the Punjab Congress cadre were in favour of contesting the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 alone, without an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party.

Bajwa said that the Congress high command had given the freedom to the state unit to assess the mood of the people of Punjab, party cadre, and workers.

“The point of view of the Punjab Congress including cadre and workers is that we have no connections with AAP in the state and will fight the upcoming general elections in 2024 on our own,” he added. “Even after getting hold of power in the state for the past 18 months, AAP is desperate to form an alliance with the Congress. No Punjab Congress leader has ever issued a statement about contesting elections in an alliance with AAP. It is only the AAP leadership that is making such statements because it has lost its ground in Punjab.”

When asked about the possible alliance in Punjab, chief minister Mann told reporters that the decision would be taken at the right time when the Lok Sabha election dates are near.