Congress slams AAP for "vendetta politics" after Punjab MLA Khaira's arrest

The Congress will contest in all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. "Our high command will take a final call on seat sharing, but no one in the Punjab unit would like to touch AAP with a bargepole," writes Amit Agnihotri

New Delhi:The simmering tensions between the Congress and the AAP resurfaced on Thursday hours after the police arrested grand old party’s Punjab MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira allegedly in an old case. The Congress blamed the AAP, which rules Punjab, for playing “vendetta politics” and questioned the ally’s commitment to coalition politics as part of the INDIA alliance.

The Congress high command has been exploring seat sharing for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls with the INDIA allies, which would include having an understanding with the AAP in Delhi, Punjab and Gujarat. The problem is that the Congress state units have been opposed to any such pact with the AAP. “This is nothing, but vendetta politics. The arrest of Khaira came after he questioned the expenditure in the marriage of AAP MP Raghav Chadha. Our MLA was suddenly picked up in an old case as a reaction,” AICC secretary in-charge of Punjab Chetan Chauhan told ETV Bharat.

“Khaira is also the chairman of the All India Kisan Congress and has been questioning the State government’s policies related to farmers. Before Khaira, several other Congress leaders like Brij Bhushan Ashu and OP Soni have been arrested in false cases. The AAP has not fulfilled its promises in the state and it is our responsibility as the main opposition to keep questioning the state government,” he said.

The AICC functionary said though his party will continue to oppose the AAP in the state, any seat sharing on the 13 parliamentary constituencies in Punjab will be decided by the Congress high command. “It is for the high command to take a call on the seat-sharing. Meetings are being held within the alliance for that. However, the high command will also factor in the events taking place in the state,” said Chauhan.

Congress Legislature Party leader in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa attacked the AAP and said no one in the Punjab unit would like to touch the ruling party with a bargepole. “We had moved our former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was not well to the Rajya Sabha to support the AAP over the controversial Delhi ordinance. See how they have reciprocated our gesture by arresting our MLA in a case in which he had earlier obtained bail. Can a person be arrested twice for the same offence,” Bajwa told ETV Bharat.

Bajwa, who had been opposing a pact with the AAP right from the beginning, said his stand was the same even now. “I maintain my opposition to the AAP. I am sure that the Congress will contest all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Our high command is dealing with the alliance issue and will take a final call, but no one in the Punjab Congress would like to touch AAP with a bargepole,” said Bajwa.

Earlier, both Bajwa and former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had told Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge not to align with the AAP. Sidhu had recently alleged links between the state government and the mafia and questioned the aviation bills of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. During a recent CWC meeting, former Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken had questioned the campaigns of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan where the Congress was in direct fight with the BJP.