Chandigarh, April 24 (IANS) Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) General Secretary Baltej Pannu on Friday blamed Union Home Minister Amit Shah for a coordinated attempt to weaken the party by misusing Central agencies and engineering defections of its seven Members of Parliament.
“Amit Shah is actively working to weaken AAP by engineering defections and using Raghav Chadha as a tool to execute this plan. There are credible reports within the party that Amit Shah offered Raghav Chadha a Union ministerial position if he succeeds in breaking at least seven AAP MPs and bringing them into a new political outfit,” Pannu told the media here.
He said, “A new party is being formed through Raghav Chadha with the backing of the BJP, and efforts are underway to lure AAP MPs into joining it. Our MPs are being pressured through false ED raids, intimidation tactics, and coercion.”
Launching an attack on Chadha, he said, “The party gave him immense respect and elevated him to the Parliament at a very young age, but he has now stabbed Punjab in the back. Punjabis love wholeheartedly, but they also know how to deal with those who betray them.”
Issuing a warning, Pannu said, “Do not take enmity with Punjabis. It will prove very costly.” He added that since coming to power in the Centre, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has repeatedly attempted to topple governments in states where it is not in power by using money, power, fear, and central agencies.
“They failed in Delhi, and they failed in Punjab because AAP leaders and legislators are committed to a mission and cannot be broken,” he said. Highlighting developments in Punjab, he noted that even after AAP completed four years in government and entered its fifth year, repeated attempts have been made to destabilise it.
“Our MLAs were offered money, threatened, and lured with false promises. Claims were made that dozens of MLAs were in contact, but nothing materialised because our leaders are committed to public service,” he said.
On recent enforcement actions, Pannu said, “The recent ED raids on AAP MPs are part of a larger strategy to create pressure. These MPs are businessmen, and never before have such raids been conducted against them. This is clearly politically motivated.”
He added that agencies such as the ED, the CBI, and even the Election Commission become active ahead of elections to serve the BJP’s political agenda. “They are used to create fear, malign reputations, and force leaders into submission or defection,” he added.
–IANS
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