Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Tuesday accepted the resignation of rebel Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Chetan Singh Jouramajra, a day after he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with two other rebel legislators in Delhi.
An Assembly official confirmed that Jouramajra's resignation had been accepted, leaving the Samana Assembly constituency vacant.
Jouramajra, along with Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh and Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, joined the BJP on Monday, marking another setback for the ruling AAP in Punjab.
The resignations of Singh and Pathanmajra had been accepted by the Speaker on Monday.
With all three resignations now accepted, the AAP's strength in the 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly has declined from 94 to 91.
๐ง๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐
The departure of the three legislators has altered the composition of the Punjab Assembly, although the AAP continues to command a substantial majority.
The Congress has 16 MLAs, while the Shiromani Akali Dal has three and the BJP has two. The Bahujan Samaj Party holds one seat, while another is represented by an Independent legislator.
With the resignations accepted, three Assembly constituencies have fallen vacant, paving the way for byelections.
The three former AAP legislators had been at odds with the party leadership before joining the BJP, signalling a shift in political alignments ahead of future electoral contests in the state.
๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ ๐๐๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ท๐ฎ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ต
Meanwhile, AAP's Majitha constituency in-charge Talbir Singh Gill criticised Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh for joining the BJP, accusing him of exploiting the sensitive Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura police firing incidents for political gains.
Gill alleged that Singh had built his political career around the demand for justice in the firing cases but had now joined a party he had previously criticised.
"Kunwar had built his politics around this very issue for a long time. But today, by going and sitting in the lap of the BJP, an ally of the political camp he had criticised, he has exposed his opportunistic and disgraceful mindset," Gill said in a statement.
The AAP leader alleged that Singh had repeatedly claimed during press conferences that he was conducting an impartial investigation into the Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura firing incidents but was not receiving support from former chief minister Amarinder Singh.
Gill said the AAP had trusted Singh's stated commitment to securing justice and subsequently inducted him into the party, given him an election ticket and helped him become an MLA.
๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ธ๐
Gill further alleged that suspicions about Singh's political loyalties had emerged soon after his election victory.
"Trusting him, the Aam Aadmi Party inducted him into the party, gave him an election ticket and made him an MLA. However, soon after his victory, suspicions had already begun to emerge that his covert links were with the BJP, following which the party had started distancing itself from him," he said.
The allegations came as the AAP sought to counter the political fallout from the defection of its three legislators.
Despite the reduction in its Assembly strength, the ruling party remains comfortably above the majority mark of 59 seats in the 117-member House.
The resignations also mean that the BJP's induction of the three former AAP legislators has not immediately increased its representation in the Assembly, as the leaders have relinquished their seats.