AAP collapsing, brick by brick… sooner than expected, says Punjab Congress' Warring

Indian Express

20-07-2025

With Kharar MLA Anmol Gagan Mann saying that she has resigned from the Vidhan Sabha, the Opposition Congress said that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has started 'collapsing', while BJP termed the ruling AAP leader's move 'a betrayal and treachery against the five-year mandate given by the people'.
Leading the attack the ruling party was Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring who said Maan was the second AAP legislator to be 'out of the party' in less than a month. The AAP on June 29 suspended Amritsar North MLA and former IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh for five years for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities.
'The rate at which the MLAs have started to quit or are made to quit suggests that the party's countdown has begun sooner than we expected. The AAP is collapsing, and it is happening brick by brick,' said Warring.
The Congress leader pointed out that only three days ago, Maan had met the party convener, Arvind Kejriwal and had said, 'his dream of uplifting society always fills us with courage and inspiration'.
What happened to that 'courage and inspiration' within three days, Warring asked.
Warring said if the AAP's own MLAs are feeling so much 'alienated' and 'disillusioned' that they are quitting the party, what would be the plight of the common man who does not have any privileges like those of the legislators?
Observing that all is not well in the AAP, he pointed out, 'One MLA was suspended from the party and within less than a month another MLA has resigned, even saying to have quit politics'.
'While it, indeed, is the AAP's internal matter, but when a fire breaks out inside the house, the flames do get noticed far and wide and cannot be overlooked,' the Congress leader said.
BJP leader Vineet Joshi said Maan's resignation as Kharar MLA is a 'betrayal and treachery' with the five-year mandate given by the people.
Before her, MLA Kanwar Sandhu remained absent from the assembly constituency for four years, and now Anmol's resignation within three years of getting elected clearly shows that the AAP is repeatedly 'betraying' Kharar by fielding 'wrong' candidates, the BJP leader said.
Joshi further said that Maan's tenure of three years and four months for the Kharar Assembly constituency was nothing short of a bad dream. 'The people of Kharar city, Kurali, New Chandigarh, Nayagaon Municipal Committee, and most villages were deprived of even seeing the face of their MLA, who was also a minister for some time,' he said in a statement.
On the rare days she did venture out, JCB machines accompanied her, and people's shops and homes were demolished, he alleged. 'When the Punjab government tried to illegally and forcibly seize farmers' land in Jhajjheri, Maan was missing,' Joshi alleged.
Similarly, when thousands of homes faced demolition in the Nayagaon municipality due to the expansion of the Eco-Sensitive Zone from 100 meters to three kilometers, Anmol remained silent initially, he added.
Taking a dig, Joshi said, 'If you wanted to quit politics, why did you join in the first place?'