New Delhi, India
Following Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's apology to Bikram Singh Majithia, prominent AAP leader in Punjab, Bhagwant Mann resigned from his post as the party president in Punjab today.
Bhagwant Mann wrote on Twitter that even though he had resigned as president of the AAP in Punjab, his fight against "drug mafia and all kinds of corruption in Punjab will continue as an 'Aam Aadmi' of Punjab.
ਮੈਂ ਆਮ ਆਦਮੀ ਪਾਰਟੀ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀ ਪ੍ਰਧਾਨਗੀ ਦੇ ਅਹੁਦੇ ਤੋਂ ਅਸਤੀਫ਼ਾ ਦੇ ਰਿਹਾ ਹਾਂ ..
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
— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) March 16, 2018
Bhagwant Mann, who represents the Sangrur parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha, was appointed the state party chief in May 2017.
Kejriwal had apologised to former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia for alleging that he was involved in the "drug trade".
A copy of Kejriwal's apology to Bikram Singh Majithia was shared by the minister on Twitter.
CM @ArvindKejriwal has tendered an apology to me in the court,for all the baseless&false allegations he & his party levelled against me in drug https://t.co/Fl679yeKHW mother suffered the most due to all this&this apology is vindication of her faith in Waheguru’s power of justice pic.twitter.com/YXs3f710eu
— Bikram Majithia (@bsmajithia) March 15, 2018
During the 2017 Punjab elections, Arvind Kejriwal had attacked the Punjab government, particularly Majithia, for being hand in glove with the drug mafia in the state.
Majithia had filed a defamation case against the Aam Aadmi Party chief and others following the allegations.
Lok Insaf Party leader Simarjit Singh Bains, whose party is an ally of the AAP in Punjab, called Kejriwal's statement a "betrayal to people of Punjab" and said their lawmakers would "sit together and take a collective decision".
This is betrayal to people of Punjab, people will not bear with it. This is a non-issue, probably there is a back-door dealing behind it. Our MLAs will sit together & take a collective decision: Simarjit Singh Bains, Lok Insaf Party on if they will snap alliance with AAP #Punjab pic.twitter.com/d5ZlDfiohO
— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2018
Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said Arvind Kejriwal's apology exposed "cheap politics by AAP."