Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has condemned the defection of AAP members to the BJP, accusing the saffron party of attempting to destabilise his government and betraying the people of Punjab.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday dubbed Aam Aadmi Party's Rajya Sabha members, who quit the party and announced joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, as "gaddars" (traitors).
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Mann accused the BJP of trying to break the Aam Aadmi Party and alleged that they had "betrayed the people of Punjab."
Mann claimed that ever since the strict law against 'beadbi' (sacrilege) was enacted, the BJP's unease has been evident as it struggles to accept decisive action on an issue deeply tied to Punjab's sentiments.
He stated that the BJP, which has repeatedly faced rejection in Punjab, has responded with hostility towards both the state and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), attempting to weaken a corruption-free government through intimidation, inducements, and efforts to engineer defections.
Notably, the developments come at a time when Punjab Assembly elections are scheduled for early next year.
Condemning both those leaving the party and those facilitating such moves, Mann asserted that the BJP's lack of political ground has pushed it towards such tactics even as visible improvements in schools, hospitals, roads, and employment have unsettled it.
Mann, who returned on Friday after nearly a week-long visit to the Netherlands and Finland, to attract investments for his state, also said that when the BJP did not find anything against him and could not level a single allegation, they tried to break the AAP.
They are perturbed why Mann is becoming the leader of people, the chief minister claimed.
Mann said that he does not have any group, but people are his group. "People of Punjab love me from the heart," he said.
"They (BJP) cannot digest why Punjab is becoming 'rangla' (vibrant) and progressing, so they decide to break the party," he alleged.
"(Union Minister) Amit Shah must not have liked it that there is no alternative to Bhagwant Mann.. People of Punjab are with the Aam Aadmi Party. I have been receiving many telephone calls saying they stand with our party," he said.
He also said that the party is bigger than any individual, and 6-7 people who have left do not comprise Punjab.
They are traitors, he alleged.
Raghav Chadha and Pathak on Friday announced that they are joining the BJP along with five other MPs of the party.
Earlier, addressing a joint press conference in Delhi, AAP Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak said they were joining the BJP.
Chadha claimed that nearly two-thirds of AAP's Rajya Sabha MPs had quit the party and would join the BJP as a separate faction.
Swati Maliwal and Harbhajan Singh were among the seven who quit, he revealed.
Addressing the media in Chandigarh, Mann said, "I have been saying this earlier too that the BJP does not get along with Punjab and Punjabis. Anything with which people of Punjab are happy, it tries to spoil it."
"When the AAP government was formed in Punjab, it withheld the state's rural development funds," he alleged.
He emphasised that the AAP draws its strength from ordinary people and remains rooted in a principled, transformative vision.
"Punjabis have never forgotten acts of betrayal, and those who deceived them have vanished into political oblivion", he said.
"Leaders like Kamaalo, Mannshahian and others betrayed their ideology and have been erased from public memory. In a democracy, the party is supreme, not individuals who come and go as per their whims and fancies," he said.
The BJP's 'washing machine' is being used to dry-clean tainted leaders from other parties. They are poaching leaders but have no base in Punjab due to its anti-Punjab mindset, he alleged.
He asserted that the BJP's political strategy across the country has been to weaken regional forces.
"The BJP only knows how to break other parties because it lacks credible leadership. They tried to break Mamata Banerjee's party, divided Uddhav Thackeray's party, and Sharad Pawar's party also met the same fate. Leaders like Naveen
Patnaik, Dushyant Chautala and Nitish Kumar have also been targeted through similar manoeuvres," he said.
"The outfit with whom they ally, they gobble up that party," the chief minister said.
"Yeh Bande Khani Party hai," he said about the BJP.
Taking a jibe at Raghav Chadha, Mann said, "A Rajya Sabha member who is now feeling suffocated in AAP due to personal interests had enjoyed the fruits of power."
"These leaders were given important positions to serve Punjab, but they compromised for their own chairs. Despite advances in science and technology, no machine can read what is in their minds. Punjabis chose them to represent their aspirations, but they betrayed the people for personal interests," he added.
Mann said these leaders got readymade things, and they did not have to go to people to seek votes with folded hands. And when they got all this, they started to indulge in such tactics.
Mann alleged that the "BJP started keeping a grudge against Punjab after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to take a U-turn over the (now-repealed three) farm laws".
He claimed that through the surveys, the BJP must have come to know the ground reality and thought of creating a flutter by engineering defections.
"Where is Capt Amarinder Singh, Manpreet Singh Badal? Does one hear about these leaders who joined the BJP (from Congress)?" Mann asked. Even Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu will be sidelined the day the BJP comes to know he holds no sway in the state", he said.
"Actually, Bharatiya Janta Party is not the party of the 'janta' (people), but the party of those leaders who have either been removed or those who have left, he added.
"They (BJP) are rattled by the work that the AAP government has done. We did those works which they cannot do in history, including giving 300 units free power per month, eight hours uninterrupted power to the farm sector... giving more than 65,000 government jobs, passing a historic bill against sacrilege," he said.
Mann asserted that the AAP has a national presence and is not confined to any region.
"After this defection, the party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC) will decide the future course, including disciplinary action. Our legislative party remains united and committed to Punjab's progress," he said.
"The BJP must remember that its tactics will not succeed in Punjab. Punjabis will teach it a lesson for this treachery," the chief minister added.
In a post on X, Mann wrote, "The BJP has always been anti-Punjab."