Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann To Meet Droupadi Murmu On May 5 Over AAP Rajya Sabha MPs’ Switch To BJP

Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said he will meet President Droupadi Murmu on May 5 in connection with the Punjab Rajya Sabha members’ switch to BJP.

Briefing newspersons in the context here, Mann said that he had been given appointment for May 5 at 12 noon and that he would formally demand ``recall’’ of the state’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha members who had defected to BJP.

It may be recalled that seven MPs, constituting two-thirds of AAP total strength of 10 in the Rajya Sabha, had defected to the BJP on April 24, last, dealing a crippling jolt to the AAP.

The seven MPs were Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Rajinder Gupta, Harbhajan Singh, Vikramjit Singh Sahney (all from Punjab) and Swati Maliwal (Delhi). Mann would demand the ``recall’’ of the six MPs elected from the state.

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Stating that he had requested for the appointment along with a delegation of party MLAs, Mann, however, did not specify whether the party legislators would accompany him.

Meanwhile, though Mann’s move is being seen as a show of strength in the AAP circles, the opposition leaders termed the same as ``political theatrics’’. However, some observers also opined that Mann’s move could trigger a fresh dialogue over the electoral reforms and steps to check practices like alleged ``Operation Lotus-style political tactics’’.