Amritsar (Punjab) [India], April 25 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief Spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Saturday termed the MPs merging with the BJP "rotten eggs", alleging that the ruling party is attempting to stifle the party's voice in the upper house of the parliament.
Speaking to ANI, Dhaliwal asserted that these MPs were given a ticket from the party's top brass with a "noble" intention, but they "betrayed" the people of Punjab.
"When Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann gave them Rajya Sabha tickets, the idea was to represent youth, education, industry and culture... The intention was noble, but just as when you buy eggs, some turn out rotten. These rotten eggs betrayed Punjab. The BJP has already tried to silence Punjab's voice. Now they attempt to shut us out of Rajya Sabha," he said, stressing that Punjab's voice cannot be "silenced," Dhaliwal said.
Emphasising that Punjab's people know how to fight for their rights, he said, "We will continue to fight for Punjab's demands, for its people, and for its future."
These remarks come after the trio of MPs--Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal--parted ways with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday and subsequently joined the BJP in the presence of party leadership.
Addressing a presser in the national capital, Chadha informed that Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal have also switched to the BJP.
Raghav Chadha said that they have informed the Chairman of the House, in accordance with the rules, of leaving the party. He formalised a split that had been building for weeks, announcing that two-thirds of the party's Upper House members would merge with the BJP.
Meanwhile, Raghav Chadha, on Saturday, after his exit from AAP, alleged that the party has deviated from its core principles and no longer provides space for honest workers."Today, every true patriot who nurtured the Aam Aadmi Party with their blood and sweat and joined it with great expectations has either left the Aam Aadmi Party or is leaving it. Every honest, hardworking person feels that there is no longer room for work in the Aam Aadmi Party. And the Aam Aadmi Party is now walking on a wrong path that no one wants to be associated with. Consequently, one by one, many leaders have left the Aam Aadmi Party," Chadha said.
Following this, Aam Aadmi Party's Youth Wing on Saturday staged aggressive protests against the seven Rajya Sabha MPs who recently merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Demonstrators targeted the residences of these MPs, branding them "Gaddar" (traitor) in a series of coordinated demonstrations across Punjab.