BJP's Shehzad Poonawalla slammed AAP, calling it 'Arvind's party alone' and citing public rejection. This comes as seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs, including Raghav Chadha and Harbhajan Singh, defected to the BJP, reducing AAP's strength to three.
'It's Arvind's party alone': Shehzad Poonawalla
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shehzad Poonawalla on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on Aam Aadmi Party, saying that the party is now limited only to convenor Arvind Kejriwal. Poonawalla said that earlier, AAP was driven out of Delhi by the public, whereas preparations are being made to defeat them in Punjab; meanwhile, their entry has been "barred" from Gujarat by its people. "This isn't the Aam Aadmi Party. Now it's Arvind's party alone. The party that said it was against corruption and with the Lokpal has aligned with Lalu Prasad Yadav. They were against VIP facilities, but have now the Sheesh Mahal. They were with Anna Hazare, but now, by abandoning the ideas of Anna Hazare and Mahatma Gandhi, they are with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi... They were first driven out of Delhi... Now, people are preparing to drive them out of Punjab as well, and their entry has been completely barred from Gujarat as well," said Poonawalla.
7 AAP Rajya Sabha MPs Merge With BJP
This comes amidst the recent development, when seven AAP MPs from Punjab merged with the BJP in the Rajya Sabha. The trio of MPs--Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal--parted ways with the AAP on Friday and subsequently joined the BJP in the presence of party leadership. Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal had also switched to the BJP.
The BJP's strength in the Rajya Sabha increased to 113 after Chairman CP Radhakrishnan approved the merger of Raghav Chadha and six other MPs who quit the AAP. Losing two-thirds of its MPs has been a big setback for the AAP, which is now reduced to a strength of three members in the Upper House of Parliament. (ANI)
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