AAP Majha leaders urge dissidents to return

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 12

Leaders of the AAP Majha zone have called upon rebel leaders, including Sukhpal Singh Khaira, to return to the party fold to give a united fight to the Congress and the SAD-BJP alliance.

Addressing mediapersons after holding a meeting with Assembly segment heads of the party, zonal in-charge Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said the party must remain united.

“We urge Khaira and other leaders not to part ways with the party. We are ready to go to Khaira’s places to placate him. Many efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah could not break the party but this step will fulfil their wishes,” he said.

Flanked by leaders from the Majha region, Dhaliwal urged the disgruntled leaders not to air their grievances in public as no matter could be resolved on roads and the same can be achieved by holding meeting with party leaders.

Answering a query, he said the same procedure was followed by the party in removing Khaira as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly as it had been carried during his appointment when he had replaced Dakha MLA HS Phoolka.

When asked about the absence of autonomy in the party, he said all national parties like Congress and the BJP were run similarly.

He claimed that Khaira enjoyed full liberty in the party and several people of his choice were given tickets and even appointed in the Assembly.

Earlier, party leaders said at a meeting that the party was gradually developing into a national political organisation to give countrymen alternative from traditional parties, like the Congress and the BJP. “Breaking-up of the party on paltry issues in the state would weaken the common people movement in the country,” they said.

They argued that rebel leaders of a party have never succeeded in electoral politics of the country. They cited the instance of once Akali stalwart Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who had parted ways with the Akali Dal with five ministers. Similarly, 35 MLAs of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had revolted against Mayawati and joined its opposition party. Later, the BSP emerged out as a clear winner in the Assembly election.