Chandigarh, August 1: A battle seems to have erupted within Punjab AAP, with its five zonal heads declaring the August 2 Bathinda convention called by Sukhpal Khaira, recently removed as Leader of Opposition (LoP), as “anti-party”. The national leadership has already dissociated itself from the event.
The Khaira group claimed it expected a huge response and had, therefore, changed the venue to a bigger site. Kanwar Sandhu, who resigned as party spokesperson after Khaira was removed as LoP, said they would seek Khaira’s reinstatement. “But the prime objective is to demand autonomy for the state unit to prevent undemocratic decisions.” He said it was a party event to which party chief Arvind Kejriwal and political affairs in-charge Manish Sisodia too had been invited.
Taking to Twitter, Khaira asked: “If we Punjabis can’t hold a meeting on our soil, how will we safeguard the interests of Punjab? The AAP meet at Bathinda will settle the issue for once and all.”
Dr Dharamvir Gandhi, suspended AAP MP, said he would back the meet if the agenda was autonomy.
Source Tribune India
