Opposition parties in Punjab criticized AAP Rajya Sabha MPs in the state on Tuesday for protesting over the issue of denying visa to AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal.
They said that instead of raising issues regarding Punjab, the representatives were protesting outside parliament as their party leader was denied a visa to Singapore.
“It is a betrayal of the interests of Punjab. AAP MPs representing Punjab ignore wider issues such as the state’s claim to Chandigarh, centralization of Punjab University, Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) project, farmers’ issues and introduction of the scheme Agnipath which will reduce state representation in the military from 7.8% to 2%,” Qadian Congress MP and Vidhan Sabha Opposition Leader Partap Singh Bajwa said on Tuesday.
Bathinda MP and former Union Cabinet Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said AAP MPs in Punjab are “acting like enslaved slaves of Kejriwal by staging repeated protests in Parliament to highlight the delay in allowing their boss to go to Singapore”.
In a written statement, Harsimrat said it was “shocking that AAP MPs from Punjab are expressing their solidarity with the failure of the Delhi model, but refusing to demonstrate against the allocation of land to Haryana in Chandigarh. Similarly, AAP MPs chose to remain silent on Haryana’s plot to deprive Punjab of its river waters through the SYL canal, in addition to not protesting the proposal to convert Punjab University into a central university.
Bajwa also wrote saying, “AAP MPs also seem to have overlooked the loss of representation at the BBMB [Bahkhra Beas Management Board], rising prices, inflation and its damage to the economy, youth unemployment and even the attack on freedom of speech and expression by banning the music of Sidhu Moosewala. Instead of raising these issues, they seem to be overzealous in pushing the AAP supremo agenda.
He added, “Although there is no harm in toeing the party line, but not at the expense of the interests and concerns of the people they represent. This issue could have been better left on the agenda of Delhi’s AAP MPs. The people of Punjab now feel disenchanted and cheated by the misplaced priorities of their Rajya Sabha representatives,” Bajwa added.
Harsimrat, calling the conduct of the AAP MPs a “classic case of pure slavery”, said: “Earlier, we witnessed the signing of a so-called knowledge sharing agreement between the governments of Punjab and Delhi which actually given charge of 16 departments in Punjab. to the Delhi government. We also witnessed the formation of an advisory council that made party MP Raghav Chadha a super chief minister.
