With Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab unit president and Member of Parliament from Sangrur Bhagwant Mann claiming a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader had offered him money and a berth of his choice in the Union Cabinet for joining the saffron party, BJP’s national general secretary Tarun Chugh on Monday slammed AAP leader for playing political gimmickry to strengthen his position within the party.
Chugh said Punjab knows it well Mann is a comic character and even in the Lok Sabha, his actions have been branded as jovial and non-serious. He challenged Mann to name the BJP leader if he was a true Punjabi.
“His gimmickry is only meant to build pressure on Arvind Kejriwal so that Mann is declared the Sikh Chief Ministerial face of the party as soon as possible which is nothing but cheap political coming from a comic character”, the BJP leader said.
Claiming there was a long queue of leaders from other political parties who were keen to join the BJP, Chugh said Mann should stop defaming the BJP for his political survival. Chugh said the BJP never indulged in such small-time political activities of bribing leaders in other parties. The BJP was a disciplined party where workers are respected and honoured for their sacrifice and commitment, he added.
Mann on Sunday claimed he was approached four days ago but refused to name the BJP leader. “He (BJP leader) tried to convince me, saying since I was the lone AAP MP, I could not be disqualified under the anti-defection law. I am on a mission, not on a commission. My mission is to make Punjab prosperous,” Mann said/ He also claimed some MLAs of his party too had been approached by the BJP.