Chandigarh, May 2
Barely days after seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MPs — six of them representing Punjab — crossed over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the spotlight has turned on Sandeep Pathak. The Punjab Police have slapped two FIRs against him under non-bailable sections, igniting speculation of arrest. Opposition voices in the State wasted no time, branding the move as political vendetta and a calculated settling of scores.
The timing is explosive: Pathak’s FIRs landed just as he crossed over to the BJP alongside Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, industrialist Rajinder Gupta, activist Swati Maliwal and Vikramjit Sahney, leaving AAP’s Rajya Sabha strength gutted—from 10 seats down to a mere 3. With Punjab Assembly elections due next year, the defections have jolted the political landscape.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has branded the rebels “traitors,” accusing them of insulting Punjab’s mandate. Mann insists they deserve no sympathy, declaring them enemies of Punjab and Punjabis. He is set to take the matter to Rashtrapati Bhavan, with a meeting scheduled with the President on May 5.
