CHANDIGARH, April 24: Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring today said that the defection of seven Aam Aadmi Party MPs to BJP will not make any difference to anyone in Punjab as all these MPs are rootless and have no base in the state.
At the same time, he added, the AAP is devoid of any ideology and its legislators and parliamentarians do not have any ideological commitments and it is not surprising that they joined BJP today. “Today it is just seven MPs, tomorrow it may be 50 legislators who may desert the AAP”, he noted, adding that the way the AAP distributed RS and assembly tickets everyone knows.
About the RS members in particular, he pointed out that these were mainly given to the big industrialists and businessmen who helped the AAP in multiple ways. Today when they defected to the BJP, the AAP should not have been surprised as they were never ideologically committed to AAP and had joined the party purely for their business interests.
Quoting the example of Ashok Mittal, who recently faced ED raids, he said, this is a normal course in the current times that people join the BJP to avoid any inquiry or investigation.
The PCC president pointed out, everybody knew how these big businessmen who had nothing to do with Punjab were fielded by the AAP for the Rajya Sabha while the workers and volunteers were ignored.
Drawing comparisons between the Congress and the AAP, he pointed out, while the AAP chose the moneybags who eventually deserted it, the Congress has always chosen the party workers, quoting the example of recent nominations from Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. While from Himachal the party fielded a district president, from Haryana the party fielded a trade union leader and ensured their victory.
He also quoted the example of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and general secretary in charge Punjab, Bhupesh Bhagel as how he was being harassed and intimidated and how his son was jailed and still they remained firm and committed towards the Congress ideology.