Punjab’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Narinder Kaur Bharaj on Thursday accused Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini of approaching her under the BJP’s alleged “Operation Lotus” and offering her a ticket from the Sangrur Assembly seat for the 2027 Punjab elections.
Addressing the media, Bharaj, a first-time MLA from Sangrur, claimed that Saini contacted her a few days ago and proposed a closed-door meeting to discuss the BJP’s plans in Punjab. She alleged that he told her the party needed candidates from all constituencies and offered her a BJP ticket from Sangrur.
“He offered me a BJP ticket from the Sangrur seat to contest elections. I was told that whatever demand I put forward would be fulfilled,” Bharaj said.
Rejecting the alleged offer, Bharaj said she remains committed to the AAP. “Through the media, I want to tell the Haryana CM that whatever I am today, I am because of the AAP and the people of Punjab,” she said. “The AAP and the people gave me identity and I won’t give up to such politics of the BJP.”
Bharaj said she became the first woman polling agent in her village at the age of 19 in 2014. She added that she joined the AAP after getting impressed by party leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann and their youth-oriented policies.
“A daughter of a small farmer was given a ticket by the AAP when she was 27, and people made me the Sangrur MLA in 2022,” she said. “We came into politics to change the system and to ensure better health care and education for the people of Punjab.”
She also told Saini not to worry about whether she would contest the 2027 Assembly elections or from where she would contest. “He should worry about Haryana,” she said, adding that his frequent visits to poll-bound Punjab suggest that the BJP has sent him on deputation to the state.
AAP general secretary and media in-charge Baltej Pannu supported Bharaj’s claims and alleged that the BJP had earlier approached several AAP MLAs under “Operation Lotus.” He said the party’s MLAs come from humble backgrounds and have never shifted their loyalties.
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With PTI inputs.
