Ex-RS MP slams AAP, urges BJP to ramp up membership drive

Former Rajya Sabha member Avinash Rai Khanna has accused the political group being formed by Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha MP Amritpal Singh of acting as a “B-team” of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), alleging its intent to destabilise Punjab. Speaking to The Tribune after attending a BJP district-level meeting in Phagwara on Saturday, Khanna, alongside former BJP president Tejaswi Bhardwaj, also criticised the AAP-led state government for its handling of the farmers’ agitation. He claimed the state government had failed to address farmers’ issues effectively and accused it of allowing lawlessness to flourish, creating a deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

The district-level BJP meeting was chaired by Khanna and attended by several prominent party leaders, including district BJP president Ranjit Singh Deol Khojewal, former Union Minister Som Parkash, former Mayor Arun Khosla and block president Anurag Mankhand.

Khanna used the meeting as a platform to stress the importance of the BJP’s ongoing membership drive. He urged party workers to focus on enrolling new members, emphasising that enrolling at least 50 new members was a prerequisite for becoming an active member eligible for party posts. He expressed concern over the low membership figures in Kapurthala district’s 17 Mandals and set an ambitious target of enrolling at least 1,00,000 members from the district to strengthen the party’s regional base.

Khanna encouraged BJP activists to campaign vigorously for the membership drive, underlining the importance of expanding the party’s grassroots presence.