Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) intensified its response on Saturday to the defection of seven Rajya Sabha MPs, with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann seeking a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu to request their recall. A minister in his cabinet also raised suspicions that two signatures on the defection letter might have been forged.
Mann to Lead Delegation to President
Mann stated he would lead a delegation of AAP MLAs to the President to present the party's case, describing the defections as a "betrayal of the mandate." Six of the seven MPs—Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, and Vikramjit Sahney—are from Punjab, while Swati Maliwal represents Delhi. The party argued before the President that switching sides undermines the democratic process and warrants a constitutional precedent for removing members who abandon the party under whose ticket they entered the Upper House.
However, the right to recall—a process allowing voters to remove MPs and MLAs before their term ends—is not yet law in India. Bills on this have not been passed in Parliament, and only a few states, like Madhya Pradesh, have implemented a provision to recall sarpanchs.
Allegations of Forged Signatures
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema claimed the seven MPs cannot escape the anti-defection law, alleging discrepancies in the defection letter. "Rajinder Gupta is getting treated abroad for bypass surgery, and Swati Maliwal did not mention in her social media post on Friday that she signed the letter submitted by Raghav Chadha. We are confident that the Vice President will follow the Constitution and these MPs will be disqualified," he said. Cheema added, "Chadha claimed that seven of them are switching parties, but two of these signatures may have been forged or fabricated to claim that two-thirds of the MPs are switching sides."
Mann's Cryptic Spice Analogy
Meanwhile, CM Bhagwant Mann used a cryptic spice analogy to downplay the defectors' political importance. "Ginger, garlic, cumin, fenugreek powder, red chilli, black pepper, and coriander—these seven things together make the vegetable taste great, but on their own, they can't become a 'vegetable'," he posted on X, reiterating that these leaders possess no individual vote bank and that even a "village sarpanch enjoys more grassroots legitimacy than the departing parliamentarians." On Friday, Mann linked the timing of the MPs' exit to the AAP government's performance in Punjab, claiming the BJP's unease peaked following the enactment of strict laws against sacrilege.
Minister Meets Sisodia
Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh met AAP in-charge of Punjab, Manish Sisodia, in Delhi on Saturday but called it a routine meeting. "I keep seeking his advice," said the minister, and rejected the opposition's charge that AAP MLAs could also defect. "There is no threat to the Bhagwant Mann-led government," he asserted. "The AAP MPs sent to Rajya Sabha by Punjab MLAs to raise issues of the state have betrayed these legislators, the party, and the people of Punjab," he added.
