Punjab Police books ex-AAP MP Sandeep Pathak, BJP alleges Kejriwal of 'political vendetta'

Punjab Police has booked Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak who recently switched from AAP to the BJP with six others sources said on SaturdayTwo FIRs have been lodged against Pathak under nonbailable sections they said No further details about the FIRs have been disclosed yet Pathak was among the seven Rajya Sabha MPs who had quit the Aam Aadmi Party AAP and joined the BJPOn April 24 the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs quit alleging that Arvind Kejriwals party has strayed from its principles values and core moralsOf the seven MPs who were Pathak Raghav Chadha Ashok Mittal Harbhajan Singh Rajendra Gupta Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal six were from Punjab Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan later officially accepted their merger with the BJP reducing AAPs strength in the Upper House to threeMeanwhile the BJP on Saturday has reacted to the FIRs on Pathak accusing AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal of indulging in vendetta politics and misusing the Punjab Police It also alleged that law and order in the state has deterioratedBJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi claimed that the police action reflects misplaced priorities Punjab Police went to Pathaks residence and attempted to carry out a raid We want to ask if the law and order situation has become so weak that the police are unable to act against drug traffickers but are being used in this manner he asked reportersTargeting Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Trivedi said Those who claim to represent a new kind of politics should explain how in their state law and order has completely collapsedReferring to the oppositions allegation that Mann was under the influence of alcohol in the Punjab assembly on Friday Trivedi said the AAP government has failed to maintain governance I want to clearly say to the AAP the Punjab government and especially Kejriwal that this is a fragile facade he saidAnother BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Kejriwal is misusing the Punjab Police to settle political scores and Mann has become a party to it Two FIRs have been filed against Sandeep Pathak who until recently was in the Aam Aadmi Party as a Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary organisation What is baffling is the shameless brazen vendetta politics being pursued by Arvind Kejriwal with Bhagwant Mann complicit in it Poonawalla said on XIt is clear this has been done out of vendetta politics by Kejriwal who is extremely vengeful and vindictive and misuses the Punjab Police to pursue such political vendetta he alleged in the postQuestioning the timing of the FIRs Poonawalla asked If these cases existed from the beginning why were FIRs not filed earlier If he was corrupt why was he kept in the party for so long especially when he was the general secretary organisation Has any new material surfaced in the last few days or has the alleged corruption occurred only nowHe alleged that Kejriwal has an old habit of targeting political opponents and dissenters We have seen how he has used the police against rivals including Congress leaders This is his old habit Poonawalla said referring to the withdrawal of Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singhs securityHe claimed that several leaders who had left AAP over the years including Yogendra Yadav Mayank Gandhi Ashish Khetan Ashutosh and Alka Lamba were houndedThe BJP leader accused the AAP of failing to introspect Instead of introspecting on how they have changed from Anna to Lalu from Lokpal to corruption they are indulging in vendetta politics trying to victimise people using the strong arm of the law This reflects an Emergencylike mindset and a dictatorial Hitlerian mindset he saidThe state party leaders have also condemned the action against Pathak In an X post Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar accused the AAP of double standards and said Those whom your leader was calling the apple of his eye just a few days ago today as soon as they switch parties flaws start appearing in them Isnt this proof of Aam Aadmi Partys double standardsLater when asked about the FIRs Jakhar said he does not have details about the cases as of now Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma also criticised the FIRs against Pathak and called it political vendettaHe too alleged that the AAP government was misusing the state police as a political weapon The registration of a nonbailable FIR against Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak in Punjab after he left AAP and joined BJP clearly shows that the police are being used as a political weapon by Kejriwal and Mann Sharma alleged in a post in PunjabiThis is not just a case This is the politics of fear panic and revenge he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever