Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday demanded the disqualification of seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MPs who recently switched allegiance to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that the move violated constitutional and parliamentary norms. He made the remarks after meeting President Droupadi Murmu, where he raised concerns about what he described as weakening democratic practices.

Mann said the MPs should have formally resigned from their positions and re-contested elections on a BJP ticket if they genuinely wished to change political affiliation. He argued that such a step would have respected democratic procedures, rather than what he claimed was an abrupt shift of allegiance. According to him, constitutional provisions govern such changes and cannot be bypassed through individual declarations alone.

The Punjab Chief Minister stated that if the MPs were dissatisfied with AAP, they should have stepped down and sought fresh mandates from voters. He added that his party would have been willing to field candidates in the resulting by-elections. Mann further claimed that allowing such defections without resignation undermines electoral integrity and reduces public trust in representative democracy.

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Mann also told reporters that he had conveyed to the President that democratic norms in Punjab were being weakened by such political realignments. He pointed out that while AAP had limited representation from the BJP in the state, the number of Rajya Sabha MPs now associated with the BJP had increased significantly, calling it a distortion of the electoral mandate.

He urged that the defecting MPs be disqualified and that the AAP be given the opportunity to fill the vacant Rajya Sabha seats again. Mann suggested that if existing laws do not adequately address such situations, constitutional amendments should be considered to prevent similar occurrences in the future. He said the President had assured him that the matter would be examined with constitutional experts.

In his broader remarks, Mann accused the BJP of attempting to weaken regional parties across the country, citing examples of political realignments in several states. However, he asserted that the Aam Aadmi Party would remain unaffected, describing it as a national party with strong public support. The statements have intensified political tensions between AAP and BJP, particularly over allegations of defection and parliamentary conduct.

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