Kejriwal tried to stop defections, but it was a case of too little, too late | India News
NEW DELHI: On learning that his party’s MPs in the Rajya Sabha might break away only to join the BJP at the end, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal made a last-ditch effort to salvage the situation by reaching out to most of them, but it proved too little too late.That Sandeep Pathak also joined the splinter group was the biggest surprise as Kejriwal saw him as a loyalist who would not switch sides, people aware of the development said.Meanwhile, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said on Sunday that he has submitted a petition to RS Chairman CP Radhakrishnan seeking disqualification of seven AAP MPs who merged with the BJP. He said the party would also take legal action if necessary, claiming the move violated the anti-defection law.Singh said many SC judgments, including those related to Uttarakhand and Arunachal, have clarified how such defections can lead to disqualification.Meanwhile, the course of events before the defection showed that Kejriwal had started reaching out to AAP MPs since April 22, calling and meeting at least Vikramjit Singh Sahni, Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak, sources said. Harbhajan Singh was in Mumbai, but Kejriwal reportedly spoke to him.When Sawhney met Kejriwal on April 22, he asked him if he was under any pressure and if he had received any calls to join the BJP. It is learned that Kejriwal also met Sandeep Pathak for an hour and a half and from that meeting became confident that Pathak would not cross over, sources said.Kejriwal spoke to Sawhney again on Friday and asked the MP to meet him in the evening. However, Raghav Chadha held a press conference in the afternoon where the MPs were announced to defect to the BJP. The fact that Kejriwal’s efforts did not bear fruit indicates that the problem was long-standing.Not only Chada, Pathak was also unhappy for quite some time. Both were instrumental in the team’s victory in Punjab. Pathak, however, has gradually faced marginalization after the party lost the Delhi polls, sources said. Sahni told TOI that growing dissatisfaction with the functioning of the state government and the crisis Punjab was facing was one of the reasons for his decision.
