Bathinda Rural MLA Rupinder Ruby quits AAP, joins Congress

After quitting the AAP, MLA Rupinder Kaur Ruby on Wednesday joined the Congress in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Bathinda Rural legislator Ruby announced the decision to quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) through her official Twitter account on Tuesday night.

"Mr. @ArvindKejriwal ji Convener, AAP & @BhagwantMann ji This is to hereby inform u that I am resigning with immediate effect from the membership of Aam Aadmi Party. Please accept my resignation.Thx Rupinder Kaur Ruby.(MLA Bti.rural) (sic)," she said in a tweet.

On Wednesday evening, Channi and Sidhu welcomed Ruby into the Congress fold.

Talking to reporters here, she slammed the AAP, alleging that there was a big difference in what its leaders say and what they do.

Ruby said that she had joined the AAP to serve the people.

"I had felt after seeing Arvind Kejriwal and the party's policies that they would work for the 'aam aadmi' but you come to know the reality when you enter the party.

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"There is a big difference in what they say and what they do," she said while blaming some decisions for the "consistent downfall" of the party in the state.

"We also felt bad and wondered what was happening. That is why I left the AAP. Nothing is being done by the AAP for the 'aam aadmi' in the state," she claimed.

On why she joined the Congress, Ruby said that she was "impressed" with the ideology of the party.

She claimed that the amount of work Channi and Sidhu have done for the people of Punjab in the last 50 days, the AAP government in Delhi could not do in 49 days.

"The real party for the 'aam aadmi' is the Congress," she said while praising the Channi-led government for its several decisions taken for the welfare of the state.

To a question on the ticket, she said whatever the party high command decides she will abide by it.

"It is not necessary to be an MLA for serving people," she further said.

On resigning as an MLA, she said she will soon speak to the Speaker over this issue.

Asked if she resigned from the AAP because she was not going to get the ticket for contesting polls, she said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had asked all the legislators to work in their respective constituencies, which meant that the ticket was confirmed.

Ruby said that she was not fighting for herself rather she was fighting for AAP MP Bhagwant Mann for not declaring him as the chief ministerial face for the upcoming polls by the party leadership.

All the volunteers in the state want Mann to be declared as the chief ministerial face, she said.

While welcoming Ruby into the party fold, Channi said the people now have come to know that the rule of 'aam aadmi' has been established in the state while pointing towards his government.

That is why they are leaving the AAP, which was an "illusion and drama", he said.

Channi said the people of Punjab have actually realised now that the Congress was the real party connected with the grassroots of the state and was completely sensitised to their problems and issues.

Welcoming to the party fold, Sidhu said Ruby will be treated as a family member in the party and will be given full respect.

On this occasion, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Chaudhary and Cabinet ministers Manpreet Singh Badal, Pargat Singh, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, among others were also present.

Earlier in the day, while reacting to Ruby's resignation, AAP MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Harpal Singh Cheema took a dig at Ruby, saying she was joining the Congress as she did not have any chance to get the AAP ticket for contesting the upcoming state assembly polls.

"Rupinder Ruby is our younger sister, (she should) be happy wherever she goes. This time, she did not have a chance to get a ticket from the AAP. Therefore, she is joining the Congress. It is a request to the Congress not to cheat Ruby and give her a ticket from Bathinda Rural seat," Cheema said in a tweet.

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