Fight for space in AAP with new leaders' entry

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, March 27

As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has begun roping in leaders from other parties in its fold with the Jalandhar LS bypoll and the Municipal Corporation elections in mind, the new joinees and somewhat oldies have begun jostling for space.

New joinee makes old guard uncomfortable

• From Jalandhar Cantonment seat, Olympian Surinder Singh Sodhi contested the 2022 Assembly elections on the AAP ticket, but Punjab women wing president Rajwinder Kaur Thiara is learnt to have intensified her activity on the seat.
• As former Akali MLA from Cantonment Jagbir Brar joined AAP on Sunday, both of them have a new competitor. CM Mann made Brar sit next to him during the press conference, which made many existing AAP leaders uncomfortable.

Since the new Jalandhar AAP team is now a mix of leaders of all parties, those coming in are carrying along a baggage of hatred and bitterness against one another. Though infighting has started on almost all seats, maximum trouble is being seen in Jalandhar West and Jalandhar Cantonment seats.

From Jalandhar Cantonment seat, Olympian and former cop Surinder Singh Sodhi contested the 2022 Assembly elections on the party ticket, but Punjab women wing president Rajwinder Kaur Thiara is learnt to have intensified her activity on the seat. As former Akali MLA from Cantonment Jagbir Brar joined AAP on Sunday, both of them have a new strong competitor. The fact that CM Bhagwant Mann made him sit next to him during the press conference, made many existing AAP leaders uncomfortable. He heaped shower of praises on him and said his closeness with Brar was since PPP days.

The other seat where disturbance is surely more is Jalandhar West. AAP Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural had reportedly strongly resisted the entry of SAD leader and two-time Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Bhatia into the party about three weeks ago.

Bhatia, who too hails from the West seat, has been facilitating the joining of certain people Angural is averse to. Bhatia today got joined Parvesh Tangri, former Deputy Mayor, former councillor Gurpal Takhar, former DFO Surjit SIngh, who contested 2019 Lok Sabha elections on the BSP ticket and car bazar owner Malwinder Lucky. Angural is reportedly also upset as Bhatia managed to receive the CM at helipad on Saturday ahead of his programme at Dera Ballan.

Angural had also been planning the visit of CM in his constituency on Monday (today) for the announcement of upgrade of a government school at Danishmandan as a Smart School. Bhatia had arranged a parallel programme of joining of his favourites. But eventually the party decided to club all the events into one at Verka milk plant. Bhatia attended the event and got his men joined off stage (joining of few of those resisted by Angural was dropped at the last moment).