- AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal apologised to former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia for alleging that he was involved in the “drug trade”.
Bhagwant Mann resigned as the Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab unit president on Friday, a day after Arvind Kejriwal’s apologised to former Akali Dal minister Bikram Majithia for levelling “unfounded allegations” of his involvement drug trade last year.
“I m resigning as a president of AAP Punjab …but my fight against drug mafia and all kind of corruption in Punjab will continue as an “Aam Aadmi “ of Punjab (sic),” Mann, who is the AAP’s member of Parliament from Sangrur, tweeted.
Kejriwal wrote to Majithia that he will withdraw all the statements and allegations made against him and also tendered an apology, saying the accusations were unfounded.
The AAP chief had accused Majithia, then a powerful minister in the state government, of being involved in narcotics trade while campaigning for the high-octane Punjab assembly elections last year when the AAP made drug abuse as a major issue in the polls.
Majithia announced that he has decided to withdraw the case against Kejriwal and another AAP leader Ashish Khaitan in the light of the apology.
Kejriwal’s apology drew flak from party’s Punjab unit leaders who described it a “meek surrender.”
“We’re appalled n stunned by the apology of @arvindkejriwal tendered today, we don’t hesitate to admit that we haven’t been consulted on this meek surrender by a leader of his stature,” leader of opposition Sukhpal Khaira said on Twitter.
Kharar AAP MLA Kanwar Sandhu also tweeted, saying that the apology was a letdown to the people, especially the youth of Punjab. “We in Punjab have not been taken into loop. Our fight for Punjab continues,” he said.
AAP co-president Aman Arora said he was shocked and disappointed to know about the apology tendered by Kejriwal.
“I still believe drugs would not have taken so many young lives had the previous government not patronised drug mafia. Our fight against drugs continues,” he tweeted.
