A day after Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) stayed the execution of non-bailable warrants (NBW) issued against Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Sukhpal Singh Khaira in a drugs case, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader on Tuesday said he will quit politics if proven guilty in the case.
Accompanied by 12 AAP legislators and two members of ally Lok Insaf Party (LIP), Khaira addressed a press conference wherein he said the manner opposition Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) combine has joined hands with the ruling Congress to target him in the case, it showed the “vendetta” of traditional parties against the new entrant in state polices, AAP.
“It’s (summons in a drug case) political terrorism to gag my voice. It’s all being done at the behest of the government by misusing the police machinery,” Khaira said. Rejecting the demand for his resignation as the leader of opposition, the Bholath legislator said he will not quit his post under pressure or threats from other political parties.
He said just summons have been issued against him in the drug case which was also the case with many Congress and BJP leaders who never quit their respective posts for the same reason. “I will resign without hesitation if my party (AAP) or LIP asks me to resign from the post,” Khaira said.
On the calls of his resignation within the AAP, Khaira said he has asked party’s state co-president Aman Arora for disciplinary action against such leaders. On his part, Arora said it was natural for any party to have differences of opinion, but the party was standing firmly behind Khaira on the issue.
LIP leader Simarjit Singh Bains said the Punjab government was trying to crush the voice of the Opposition.
This show of solidarity comes amid discontent within the AAP over Khaira’s continuation as leader of opposition. While some AAP leaders have called upon party high command to remove Khaira from the post, a section of senior party leaders and MLAs also want the party chief Arvind Kejriwal to take action against the Bholath legislator as, they say, inaction in the matter would dilute AAP’s stand against the menace of drugs in Punjab.
A district court in Fazilka on 31 October sentenced nine persons to imprisonment in the trans-border heroin smuggling racket which surfaced in 2015.
The court also issued summons to Khaira in this case after additional public prosecutor moved an application stating that during investigation Khaira has been found to be the “kingpin” and was operating the gang through his personal security officer, personal assistant, one of nine accused Gurdev Singh and his sister.