Chandigarh, May 5 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, accompanied by party MLAs, departed for Delhi on Tuesday morning to meet President Droupadi Murmu regarding the recent defection of seven Rajya Sabha MPs to the BJP.
On April 24, the Aam Aadmi Party suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs — Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal — quit and merged with the BJP, alleging that the party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals. Six of the seven MPs who left AAP were from Punjab.
Mann is scheduled to meet the President at 12 noon at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday.
While departing for Delhi, Mann affirmed that all AAP MLAs stand united with the party. “Only I have been given time for the meeting,” Mann said while speaking to reporters here.
“The President is the guardian of the Constitution. She is the constitutional head of the country,” he added.
The MLAs and ministers gathered at the chief minister’s residence in the morning before heading to Delhi, carrying placards that read ‘Punjab Mann De Naal’ and ‘Punjab’s Traitors.’ The legislators left for Delhi in buses.
Mann had previously sought an appointment with the President to meet with party MLAs and demand the “recall” of the Rajya Sabha MPs who defected to the BJP. However, only Mann was given a time slot for the meeting.
Cabinet Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak confirmed that the party MLAs would accompany Mann and informed that they would raise the demand to recall the defected MPs.
Mann had earlier said that he would ensure the voice of Punjab is strongly represented during his meeting with the President, stating, “It is our duty to safeguard the mandate of the people of Punjab and uphold democratic values.” He mentioned that he would arrive at Rashtrapati Bhavan with MLAs who would remain outside while he goes inside for the meeting.
The chief minister also plans to bring along a copy of the confidence motion that was passed by the Punjab Assembly on May 1.
On Monday, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan officially accepted the merger of the MPs with the BJP, reducing the strength of Arvind Kejriwal’s party in the Upper House to three.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
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