Chandigarh, April 24 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has always been ‘anti-Punjab’ and the people would teach a lesson to the state’s traitors.

“The party is bigger than any individual. The six (Aam Aadmi Party) MPs who have left do not represent Punjab. When they (the BJP) did not find anything against Bhagwant Mann, they tried to break the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP),” Mann told the media here.

He was responding to Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and six others quitting the AAP to join the BJP.

Chief Minister Mann said the BJP created obstacles in other’s party.

“Punjabis love everyone from the bottom of their heart. But, if someone betrays Punjabis, then they never forget.”

Chief Minister Mann said the six to seven AAP lawmakers who joined the BJP were not from Punjab.

“These people are traitors to Punjabis. They got seats… they didn’t even have to ask for votes. They didn’t have to go to streets or speak about people’s issues. They went there only to save themselves. Now they don’t even have a place there because they are with the BJP.”

He added that the BJP has betrayed Punjab.

“The same ‘washing machine’ was used at the party of Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena-UBT and the Congress. The BJP has no base in Punjab,” the Chief Minister said.

He noted that ever since strict laws against sacrilege were passed, unease “is clearly visible in the BJP; they cannot tolerate this. To avenge their repeated defeats in Punjab, the BJP has always harboured feelings of hatred toward Punjab and the Aam Aadmi Party. We strongly condemn, in the harshest terms, both those who leave the party and those who take them in”.

“From the sacred land of Punjab, I want to make it clear that the Aam Aadmi Party is the party of the common people, and the people are our true strength. The people will surely teach a lesson to Punjab’s traitors. They cannot win Punjab with such games. In democracy, the people are the greatest, and the common people are our real force. The Aam Aadmi Party is a party with a revolutionary mindset and stands united and resolute for the truth at all times,” the Chief Minister said.

Earlier, Punjab AAP General Secretary Baltej Pannu 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.

“Home Minister 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 in a separate briefing.

The Punjab AAP General Secretary 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 Raghav Chadha, Pannu said, “The party (AAP) 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, the Punjab AAP General Secretary noted, “Do not take enmity with Punjabis. It will prove very costly.”

He added that central 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 (central agencies) are used to create fear, malign reputations, and force political leaders into submission or defection,” he said.

–IANS

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