Arvind Kejriwal (File photo)
NEW DELHI: Getting to know that his party’s MPs in Rajya Sabha could break away to join BJP only towards the end, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal made last-ditch efforts to salvage the situation by reaching out to most of them, but it proved a case of too little too late.That Sandeep Pathak too joined the breakaway group was the biggest surprise as Kejriwal saw him as a loyalist who wouldn’t switch sides, people aware of the developments said.
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Meanwhile, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said on Sunday he has submitted a petition to RS chairman C P Radhakrishnan seeking disqualification of the seven AAP MPs who have merged with BJP. He said the party would also pursue legal action if needed, claiming that the move violated the anti-defection law.Singh said many SC rulings, including those related to Uttarakhand and Arunachal, had clarified how such defections could lead to disqualification.Meanwhile, the trajectory of events before the defections shows that Kejriwal started reaching out to AAP MPs from April 22, with calls being made and meetings held with at least Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak, sources said. Harbhajan Singh was in Mumbai, but Kejriwal is learnt to have spoken to him.
When Sahney met Kejriwal on April 22, the latter asked him if he was under any pressure and had received any calls to join BJP. It is learnt that Kejriwal also met Sandeep Pathak for one and a half hours and emerged confident from the meeting that Pathak would not cross over, sources said.Kejriwal spoke to Sahney 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 announcement of the MPs crossing over to BJP was made.
The fact that Kejriwal’s efforts failed to bear fruit indicates that the trouble had been brewing for long.Not just Chadha, Pathak had also been disgruntled for quite some time. Both had played crucial roles in the party’s victory in Punjab. Pathak, however, faced gradual marginalisation after the party lost Delhi polls, sources said. Sahney told TOI that growing disenchantment with the functioning of state govt and the crisis being faced by Punjab was one of the reasons for his decision.