One more disillusioned Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, Punjab AAP MLA Sukhpal Khaira today resigned from the primary membership of Aam Aadmi Party. In his resignation letter sent to AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal, Khaira wrote that the “party has totally deviated from the ideology and principles on which it was formed post Anna Hazare movement.”
Hitting out on Kejriwal, Khaira said that the AAP chief’s ‘dicatorial attitude’ has “shattered the dreams of Indians and the Punjabis for a clean alternative to the decayed and rotten system.”
Stating that Kejirwal failed to understand the psyche of the Punjabis due to his ‘overconfidence’, Khaira said, “You only listened to the two “Subedars” you had appointed to run Punjab and never bothered about the sentiments of AAP volunteers on the ground.”
Khaira, along with AAP leader Kanwar Sandhu were earlier suspended from AAP for indulging in “anti-party activities”.
The rift within the Punjab unit of AAP has been well known for quite some time now. In July last year, Khaira was removed from his post of Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, which led to a sense of growing discontent in the party. He had then said that he would not be leaving the party and had stated that he would ensure that no defection takes place from the party.
It is reported that the rift in the party started when Kejriwal had to apologize to senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia for falsely accusing the latter of running a drug trade. At that time, Khaira and Bhagawat Mann had objected to Kejriwal’s decision and Mann had also resigned from the post of state chief.
The AAP Punjab Unit’s co-president Balbir Singh had accused him of accepting money from party workers. It was also reported that Khaira was alleged to have supported “referendum 2020”, which intends to create a separate state for Sikhs.
Sukhpal Singh Khaira, MLA from Bhulath, was appointed as the leader of opposition after HS Phoolka resigned from the post as he has decided to step away sighting conflict of interest, to fight the cases relating 1984 Anti-Sikh riots in the Supreme Court.
Recently, AAP leader HS Phoolka, who was against the formation of alliance with Congress also resigned from the party. Years after AAP founding members Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were kicked out of the party, in August last year, AAP senior leader Ashutosh and Ashish Khetan had also quit the party.
