‘Gaddar’ written on Harbhajan’s house as AAP holds protests against MPs joining BJP

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers on Saturday (April 25) held protests outside the residences of Rajya Sabha MPs Harbhajan Singh, Ashok Mittal and Rajinder Gupta, who quit the party and joined the BJP.

The workers wrote 'Gaddar' (traitor) on the walls of their houses with spray paint in Ludhiana and Jalandhar.

7 AAP MPs join BJP

On Friday, AAP Rajya Sabha members Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak announced that they were quitting the party and joining the BJP along with five other MPs. Mittal, Singh, Gupta, Swati Maliwal, and Vikramjit Sahney were the other AAP MPs they named.

Also read: Why Raghav Chadha lost nearly 1 million followers in 24 hours after joining BJP

The protesters raised slogans of "Punjab de Gaddar", accusing them of betraying the people of Punjab.

In Jalandhar, AAP leader Pawan Kumar Tinu said, "The AAP government will return to power in Punjab in 2027, and the BJP will have no political ground left to stand on. Out of frustration, the BJP has resorted to poaching AAP's Rajya Sabha MPs by hook or crook. The Congress, BJP and Akali Dal have formed an unholy alliance against AAP, which is why their leaders are making similar statements about AAP MPs defecting to the BJP."

Slogans raised

AAP Punjab Youth Wing acting president Parminder Goldy led a protest outside the residence of MP Rajinder Gupta in Ludhiana, raising slogans against him.

He said, "The people of Punjab will never forgive this betrayal of trust. The BJP is deeply unsettled by Arvind Kejriwal's politics of development and governance, and is attempting to destabilise AAP through conspiracies. However, these efforts will fail because every AAP worker stands firmly with the party's leadership and its vision."

The AAP leaders reiterated that the party remains united and committed to serving the people of Punjab, asserting that those who betray the trust of Punjab will ultimately be held accountable by the people.

Congress targets BJP

Meanwhile, the Congress on Saturday said the BJP washing machine is back along with Modi washing powder.

Also read | Chadha, others’ exit was a disaster waiting to happen for AAP

The Congress has been accusing the BJP of inducting leaders of various other parties facing cases and then going slow on the action against them.

Mittal, one of the seven AAP MPs who quit, had faced Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids only a few days ago.

"The BJP washing machine is back along with the Modi washing powder. Those who projected themselves as paragons of virtue, integrity, and ideology stand brutally exposed," AICC general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

(With agency inputs)