AAP leaders dismiss decline claims as three MLAs join BJP
Punjab Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal and MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar expressed confidence in a 2027 victory despite recent defections.
Punjab Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar dismissed claims of the party's decline on Monday, after three AAP MLAs joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to ANI, the defecting leaders include Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, and Chetan Singh Jouramajra.
The three MLAs joined the BJP at the party headquarters in New Delhi. Pathanmajra and Jouramajra had previously been suspended by AAP for alleged anti-party activities and subsequently resigned. Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, a former IPS officer, also resigned from the Punjab Legislative Assembly on Monday after being suspended from AAP on June 29, 2025.
Minister Goyal said that any differences should have been resolved through discussions and stated that the people who left should not have done so. Responding to remarks by Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, Goyal said that the Akali Dal is now zero and that people will vote for AAP with a huge majority.
MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar described joining another party as an individual choice but called the claim that AAP is finished an ill-considered remark. Nijjar added that the party will win with a substantial majority in the 2027 elections.
AAP stated it would petition the Assembly Speaker to disqualify the legislative membership of the two suspended MLAs. On Saturday, the party released its first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 Assembly elections, naming Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann from Dhuri and Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan from Kotkapura.