Facing online attack, Harbhajan Singh accuses AAP of 'selling' Rajya Sabha seats in Punjab

Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh has accused the AAP of taking bribes and selling Rajya Sabha seats, sparking a heated online debate with party supporters.

Nearly a month after switching sides from the AAP to the BJP, cricketer-turned-politician Harbhajan Singh on Friday accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led party of taking bribes and selling Rajya Sabha seats.

The 45-year-old Rajya Sabha MP's charge followed after a user on X addressed him as ''traitor'' and said, ''The leader (Arvind Kejriwal) you keep abusing day and night, why didn't you resign from the Rajya Sabha seat he gave you?''.

Several AAP supporters have trolled Singh on social media and dubbed him a ''traitor'' after he switched over to the BJP.

Replying to the online attack, Singh wrote on X in Hindi, ''When the time is right, every single point of yours will be answered. I did not hurl insults at any of your leaders; why should I sully my tongue? And to those calling me a traitor: first, ask your own people how much a Rajya Sabha seat from Punjab was sold for.

''If they fail to tell you, I will reveal exactly who received what kickbacks, and from whom. I will also expose how certain individuals were appointed ministers and officials solely to plunder Punjab and to funnel illicit gains to the 'Lala'. You have completely looted and devoured Punjab.''.

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 the AAP were from Punjab.

Following his 'defection', AAP workers had held protests outside the houses of Singh, Rajinder Gupta and Ashok Mittal, even writing 'gaddar' (traitor) with spray paints on the boundary walls of their residences in Jalandhar and Ludhiana.

Hitting back at those who dubbed him a ''traitor'', the former cricketer said, ''It was a political party that burnt an effigy outside my house and wrote 'traitor' on it. Come on, people, don't do such things. Who gave the instructions? This country has given me so much love – for 20 years, I held the nation's name high on the sports field. And you people think that if they bring some tag, it will stick!.

''It only reflects their cheap mentality. Come on, let the people of this country decide how they will remember me. I don't care if some paid trolls write sh** about me.''.

Wading into the controversy, senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia claimed that the revelations by Singh shook the very foundation of the AAP, alleging that even its old hands have now begun exposing corruption and political dealings within the party.

Demanding Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's resignation on moral grounds, Majithia, in a statement, alleged that he was no longer working for the people of Punjab but was instead acting as ''Arvind Kejriwal's broker''.

He also urged Singh to disclose the names of those involved in ''selling'' Rajya Sabha seats.

Terming Singh's remarks one of the ''biggest and most shameful revelations'' in Punjab's political history, the Akali leader alleged that the developments exposed how Arvind Kejriwal and his loyalists were selling the state.