Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak left his official residence in New Delhi on Saturday, at a time he is likely to face arrest after two First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered against him in Punjab, per reports. The cases have been filed for non-bailable offences, per IANS.
Pathak was among the seven Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MPs who had quit the Arvind Kejriwal-led party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Visuals showed security being increased outside Pathak’s official residence, while another video showed him exiting the house from the back door, sitting in a car and being driven off. Sources told NDTV that the AAP rebel’s phone is turned off and he has moved to an undisclosed location, as the BJP ropes in its legal cell to secure relief for him.
Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Swati Maliwal and Vikramjit Sahney were the AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who announced their exit from the party on April 24, alleging that the party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals. Except Maliwal, the other six represent Punjab in the Upper House.
Since seven out of 10 AAP Rajya Sabha MPs have jumped ship together with a strength of two-thirds, none of them is expected to attract disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, commonly known as the anti-defection law.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has announced that he will meet President Droupadi Murmu on May 5 to raise the issue of what he described as “illegal” and “unlawful defection”, while asserting that such “actions amount to a betrayal of the people’s mandate”.
Mann won a confidence vote in th 117-member Punjab Assembly mandated by the Rajya Sabha MPs’ exit from AAP. AAP has a majority with 94 MLAs, while 16 MLAs belong to the Congress, one MLA is from the BSP, three MLAs are from SAD. There are two MLAs from BJP and one Independent MLA. During the proceedings, 88 AAP MLAs were present in the House, while two party MLAs were abroad and two were in jail. In addition, two MLAs were hospitalised.
Mann said that the AAP’s support base remains intact and will translate into an even bigger mandate in 2027.