Punjab: Factionalism surfaced in Aam Aadmi Party
Punjab: In a rare political development just ahead of municipal elections, former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister and Phagwara constituency in-charge Joginder Singh Mann has filed a complaint against local bodies minister Ravjot Singh with national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, levelling serious allegations against him and claiming that various projects are being stalled by Ravjot Singh as the minister himself wants to inaugurate the projects. Copies of the letter have also been sent to Punjab party president Aman Arora, Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha and Punjab AAP affairs in-charge Sandeep Pathak.
In a detailed letter to AAP officials, Mann, while congratulating them for the party’s landslide victory in the recently concluded by-elections, told the Chief Minister that some ministers were misusing their powers to stall works related to public welfare, which was negatively affecting the party’s image in the upcoming municipal elections. Citing an incident, the AAP leader said a prime example of this was that the inauguration of the tubewell project in Phagwara was in limbo as the “arrogant” minister wanted to use it for his propaganda while residents of Omkar Nagar were crying foul over the unavailability of water. He alleged that the inauguration of the tubewell was scheduled for Saturday but the minister, who wanted to grab headlines, got it cancelled for unknown reasons.
He alleged that the minister issued an order postponing the function due to which residents of Omkar Nagar had to live without water supply. He said the project was in limbo for the last four years and now the minister’s “autocratic” working style had further aggravated the troubles of the common man. Mann alleged that AAP workers had come here to serve the people of Phagwara but the minister was fuelling factionalism in the party, harming the party’s prospects in the forthcoming MC elections. Mann urged all AAP leaders, including Chief Minister Mann and Kejriwal, to intervene to stop the minister from any kind of undue and undesirable interference in the party’s Phagwara unit, otherwise it may harm AAP’s prospects in the upcoming municipal elections.
