AAP MPs' merger with BJP: Mann vows to 'present Punjab's voice' when he meets President on May 5

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said he will strongly present the voice of Punjab when he meets President Droupadi Murmu on May 5, asserting that it is our duty to safeguard peoples mandate and democratic values. The chief minister said that though he had sought time for all AAP MLAs in Punjab, only he had received an invitation to meet the President.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said he will ''strongly present the voice of Punjab'' when he meets President Droupadi Murmu on May 5, asserting that ''it is our duty to safeguard people's mandate and democratic values''. Mann had sought an appointment with the President to demand a ''recall'' of the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Rajya Sabha MPs who joined the BJP. He said the President has granted him time at 12 noon on May 5. The chief minister said that though he had sought time for all AAP MLAs in Punjab, only he had received an invitation to meet the President. ''I am pleased to inform you that President Droupadi Murmu has given me an appointment at 12 noon on May 5. Although we had requested an appointment for all the MLAs to meet her, only I have received an invitation,'' he said in an X post in Punjabi. ''I will arrive at Rashtrapati Bhavan with my fellow MLAs. They will wait outside while I go in and strongly present the voice of Punjab and its people before the President. We will share our next strategy after the meeting. Heartfelt thanks to the President for granting me her valuable time,'' Mann's post said. On April 24, the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs -- Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- quit and merged with the BJP, alleging that the party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals. Six of the seven MPs who quit AAP were from Punjab. Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan on Monday officially accepted the merger of the MPs with the BJP, reducing the strength of Arvind Kejriwal's party in the Upper House to three.