AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal refused to comment specifically on the merits of the Khaira case. (PTI File)
Arvind Kejriwal said: “The AAP is committed to the INDIA alliance. The AAP, under no circumstance, will leave the INDIA alliance. We are fully committed to abiding by the alliance dharma… Give it some time, [seat-sharing talks] should happen, it will happen.”
Amid the furore over the arrest of Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira in a 2015 drugs case in Aam Aadmi Party-ruled Punjab, party convener Arvind Kejriwal said that AAP would not leave the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc under any circumstance.
ALSO READ | Defended by AAP in 2017, Objected to by Cong in 2022: Khaira Caught in Revolving Door of Punjab Politics?
“I want to make it clear that the AAP is committed to the INDIA alliance and the AAP, under no circumstance, will leave the INDIA alliance. We are fully committed to abiding by the alliance dharma,” said Kejriwal.
Up in arms, Punjab Congress leaders Raja Warring and Pratap Bajwa made a dash to see the jailed leader, but they were not allowed to meet him.
The AAP convener, however, refused to comment specifically on the merits of the Khaira case. “Yesterday, I heard that one particular person was arrested by the Punjab police on the issue of drugs. I do not have the details. For details, you have to talk with the Punjab Police. They can only provide you with the details of the case…”
In what is seen as an endorsement of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Kejriwal said: “The Bhagwant Mann government, the AAP government, is committed to eliminate drug abuse in the state. It has destroyed one generation of youth. One cannot imagine the scale of drug abuse in the state. We are fighting it on war footing. In this war against drugs, no matter what the stature of the person is, he will not be spared.”
Eliminating drug trafficking from the state and rehabilitation of addict youths was one of Kejriwal’s guarantees during the campaign in Punjab.
As the Punjab Assembly elections are a good three years away, there is no talk of an alliance between the AAP and Congress. The AAP is optimistic about its chances in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, particularly after it won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency in the by-election and is keen to go all out. The Congress had eight of the 13 Lok Sabha seats and its leaders have also said that they want to contest all 13 seats. Once a seat-sharing formula is hammered out at the national level, perhaps, there will be some peace between the two warring parties.
The @AAPPunjab govt can go to any extent to throttle the voice of those who have been exposing the irregularities and corrupt practices of the AAP govt. Activist @ManikGoyal_ posted a document exposing how desperate the AAP govt is to hire a fixed-wing plane solely for AAP’s… pic.twitter.com/oHbFOFCnjr— Partap Singh Bajwa (@Partap_Sbajwa) September 29, 2023
After the INDIA alliance’s first rally, scheduled to be held in Bhopal, was cancelled, the partners in the bloc have been relatively passive. While seat-sharing in election-bound states in 2024 was on the agenda as priority, no headway was made in its last meeting in Delhi.
According to sources, no talks have happened on seat-sharing at the national level. “Give it some time, it should happen, it will happen,” said Kejriwal.
ALSO READ | Cong-Cerns: INDIA Key, But Can’t Get AAP-staged in Delhi and Punjab | CWC in Hyderabad
The AAP is one of the parties pushing for early talks on seat-sharing, so that the 2024 campaign can take off.
Kejriwal also played down demands from various parties to have its leader as Prime Ministerial candidate. “We have just one stand, that each one of the 140 crore people should feel that he or she is the Prime Minister. We have to empower people and not one person.”
