AAP in turmoil ahead of Dera Baba Nanak bypoll

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, September 2

The ruling party is finding it hard to reign in its workers in the Dera Baba Nanak Assembly seat, a development which does not augur well as it comes ahead of the by-elections.

The Aam Aadmi Party is keenly eyeing this Assembly seat. It wants to win it at all costs as this is the home seat of former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. He won the 2024 Parliamentary polls from the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat and hence had to resign as its sitting MLA. With his wife Jatinder Kaur all set to enter the electoral fray, opposition parties, including AAP, are seeing this as a perfect opportunity to pull the rug from under his feet and ‘diminish his political stature’.

Gurdeep Singh is the AAP’s halqa in-charge from this seat. He was once an acolyte of Sukhjinder Randhawa, but the two fell out before the 2022 polls.

As things stand, the Dera Baba Nanak AAP unit stands vertically divided. A powerful section of office-bearers, including its block presidents, have raised the banner of revolt against Gurdeep Singh. They claim that he and his staff have pilfered funds amounting crores of rupees meant for the development of village panchayats. They have even gone to the extent of demanding a vigilance probe into the alleged bungling.

Vehemently countering these allegations, Singh said: “These people should furnish some proof when they say there has been misappropriation of grants. Otherwise, their claims ring hollow.”

In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the leaders, who have a substantial vote share, said that not only panchayat funds but grants meant for MNREGA have also been embezzled. “We demand that Gurdeep Singh should immediately be removed as the halqa in-charge. Otherwise, the party has no chance of winning the by-election,” read the letter.

The leaders said: “75 per cent of AAP voters have already left the party due to Gurdeep Singh.”

Sources disclose that the state leadership is aware of the revolt and also knows the damage it will do to the party in the by-poll. “Some senior leaders are expected to step in within a week in an attempt to diffuse the situation. We tried to pacify the rival faction of the halqa in-charge but found little success,” said an AAP MLA.

There are many who claim that this upheaval is being instigated by opposition parties just to ensure that AAP queers the pitch for the party before the polls.

There is also speculation that the state government may go in for another round of transfers and postings. Already, Uma Shankar Gupta has been appointed as the new Gurdaspur DC in place of Vishesh Sarangal.