Factionalism in AAP comes to fore

In a rare political development just before the Municipal Corporation elections, former minister and Phagwara halqa in-charge of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Joginder Singh Maan has lodged a complaint against Local Bodies Minister Ravjot Singh with national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Maan, and levelled serious allegations against him, claiming that different projects were being stalled by Ravjot as the minister wanted to inaugurate the projects himself.

Copies of the letter were also sent to Punjab party president Aman Arora, Rajya Sabha Member Raghav Chadha and Punjab AAP affairs in-charge Sandeep Pathak.

In a detailed letter written to the AAP authorities, Maan, while congratulating them for spectacular victory of the party in the recently concluded byelections, told the Chief Minister that few ministers were misusing their powers to stall the public welfare-related works, which was negatively impacting the party’s image in the ensuing civic body elections.

The AAP leader, while narrating an incident said, a glaring example of this is that in Phagwara, the inauguration of the tubewell project was hanging fire as the “stiff necked” minister wanted to use it for his publicity while the residents of Onkar Nagar had been crying over the non-availability of water. He alleged that the inauguration of the tubewell was slated to take place on Saturday, but the minister, who wanted to hog the limelight, had got it cancelled due to unknown reasons.

He alleged that the minister had issued an order regarding the postponement of the function, thereby leaving the residents of Onkar Nagar without water supply. He said the project had been hanging fire for the last four years and now the minister’s “autocratic” style of functioning had added to woes of the common man.

Maan alleged that AAP activists were here to serve people of Phagwara, but the minister was fanning groupism in the party, thereby damaging the prospects of party in the ensuing MC poll.

Maan urged all AAP leaders, including CM Maan and Kejriwal, to intervene to debar the minister from any sort of unwarranted and undesirable intervention in the Phagwara unit of the party, otherwise it could damage prospects of the AAP in the upcoming MC poll.