Punjab MLA Sukhpal Khair resigns

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rebel MLA Sukhpal Khaira resigned as the MLA from Bholath constituency in Punjab on Thursday.

Another AAP MLA from the Bathinda parliamentary constituency, Nazar Singh Manshahia, joined the Congress on Thursday. The 56-year engineering graduate had won the 2017 assembly election from Mansa, polling about 40% votes.

Sukhpal Khaira has already floated his political outfit, Punjab Ekta Party that is contesting the elections as part of the Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA), comprising six political outfits.

In a letter to the assembly speaker, Khaira said he had joined the AAP like lakhs of people on the basis of the revolutionary and lofty promises made by Arvind Kejriwal.

“Unfortunately, as we realise now, he has not only dashed the hopes of millions of people but has stooped to the lowest level of cheap politicking for petty personal gains. In Punjab, he virtually ditched the volunteers of AAP and left them defenseless, the moment he apologized to drug lord ex-Minister Bikram Majithia,” Khaira alleged.

“Since I will be filing my nomination papers as candidate of PDA from the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat tomorrow, I have decided to relinquish my Bholath seat as MLA, to uphold morality and ethics in politics,” Khaira said in his letter.