Punjab News Daily

Chandigarh, April 25 

 Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has sought time to meet President Droupadi Murmu along with his party’s MLAs to present his stance on the recall of seven Rajya Sabha members who have joined the BJP. 

It is learnt on Saturday that CM Mann is expected to raise the issue of the seven MPs’ defection and argue for their recall during the meeting.

The development comes a day after seven AAP Rajya Sabha members — Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Swati Maliwal and Vikramjit Sahney — announced their decision to quit the AAP and join the BJP. Except for Swati Maliwal, six other MPs represent Punjab in the Upper House. Since seven out of 10 AAP Rajya Sabha MPs have jumped ship together with a strength of two-thirds, none of them is expected to attract disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, commonly known as the anti-defection law.

Had Raghav Chadha or any other MP acted alone, he would have risked losing his Rajya Sabha seat under the anti-defection law. However, it does not apply when at least two-thirds of the members of a legislative party merge with another one.

Meanwhile, AAP workers protested outside the office and residence of three MPs — Rajinder Gupta in Ludhiana and Ashok Mittal and Harbhajan Singh in Jalandhar.

Asserting that ever since strict laws against ‘beadbi’ (sacrilege) were enacted, the BJP’s unease has been evident, CM Mann said: “The BJP struggles to accept decisive action on an issue deeply tied to the state’s sentiments”. He said the BJP, which has repeatedly faced rejection in Punjab, has responded with hostility towards both the state and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), attempting to weaken a corruption-free government through intimidation, inducements, and efforts to engineer defections.