New Delhi [India], November 7 : Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien on Saturday sought to draw a distinction between the political rivalry between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress in Punjab and claimed the broader Opposition unity against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), asserting that parties fighting the BJP know their respective roles.
In a post on X, Derek O'Brien said the Congress and AAP were contesting against each other in Punjab, making their sharp exchanges natural, but maintained that the "BJP had no reason to celebrate the differences" between the two parties.
"In Punjab, it’s Congress versus AAP, fighting it out fair and square. So it is natural the two will come hard at each other. In all this, the BJP have nothing to fake a smile about. All Opposition parties fighting the BJP know our roles. All good," the TMC MP wrote.
https://x.com/derekobrienmp/status/2118911219033870804
His remarks come amid an intensifying political confrontation between the Congress and AAP in Punjab ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, with leaders of both parties trading allegations over governance, corruption and the drug menace.
Earlier on Wednesday, launching a sharp attack on Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over the issue of substance abuse, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Chief Minister appeared to be under the "influence of alcohol" during parliamentary proceedings.
"I was in the Lok Sabha with him. He (Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann) used to sit with us and tell jokes, right there, sitting among us. By 11:00 AM, you could smell alcohol on his breath. Now, I am not saying that Bhagwant Mann shouldn’t drink; that is his personal affair. If he chooses to drink, that is entirely his own business. But if you truly want to fight the menace of substance abuse, your Chief Minister cannot be under the influence every single evening. You need someone who will fight for Punjab, someone who genuinely feels the pain caused by drugs, someone who carries the pain of Punjab in his heart," the Congress MP said while addressing the Congress' 'Insaaf Rally' in Sangrur.
The remarks triggered a political exchange, with AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh hitting back at Congress. He defended the AAP government in Punjab under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, asserting that it had delivered for the people and would return to power with a decisive mandate.
"Under the leadership of Bhagwant Mann ji, the Aam Aadmi Party government has delivered for the people of Punjab, and we will form the government there once again with a resounding, thumping majority," he said.
AAP MP also targeted Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his 'BJP's B-team' remark on Thursday. Addressing a press conference in Sultanpur, Singh called the Congress the real 'BJP's B-team' and said the party had been losing elections in several states for decades and was making baseless allegations against the AAP. 
Kharge had accused the AAP government in Punjab of corruption and failing to tackle the drug problem, while alleging that public money was being sent from the state to Delhi.
"The Punjab government is a government of drugs and corruption. I have not seen such a corrupt government in my 60 years of public life. Money is being sent from here to Delhi. They are the BJP's B-team," Kharge had said.
The political exchanges come as parties step up preparations for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the AAP announced its first list of 40 candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls. The list includes Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann from Dhuri, Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan from Kotkapura and Minister Sanjeev Arora, who is currently in jail, from Ludhiana West.