Jalandhar: Protests erupted in Jalandhar on Saturday after alleged supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) vandalized the residence of former international cricketer and Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh. The demonstrators defaced the property’s walls with the word “Gaddar” (traitor), expressing their anger over the MP’s sudden shift in political allegiance. The incident underscores the heightening volatility in Punjab following a major political realignment that has seen a significant portion of AAP’s parliamentary strength move toward the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The unrest follows Friday’s high-profile announcement where seven of the ten AAP Rajya Sabha members, led by Raghav Chadha, declared their merger with the BJP. This “G-7” group—which includes Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Rajinder Gupta, and Swati Maliwal—claims to represent a two-thirds majority of the party’s Upper House strength, a move intended to bypass the Anti-Defection Law. While the defecting leaders have accused the AAP of straying from its core principles of anti-corruption, the AAP leadership has characterized the move as a betrayal engineered by “Operation Lotus” and the misuse of central agencies.
Harbhajan Singh, who has largely maintained a low profile regarding parliamentary politics since his nomination from Punjab in 2022, is now at the center of intense local scrutiny. Local authorities have increased security around his residence following the vandalism to prevent further escalation. The backlash in Jalandhar mirrors a broader digital and ground-level resentment, similar to the massive loss of social media followers reported for Raghav Chadha, as the party’s base reacts to the sudden departure of leaders they once viewed as reformist icons.
The political fallout continues to widen as Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the AAP leadership prepare to challenge the legal validity of the merger. With state assembly elections approaching in 2027, the defection of six Punjab-based MPs to the BJP is seen as a tectonic shift that could redefine the state’s electoral dynamics. For now, the focus remains on maintaining law and order in districts like Jalandhar, where the symbols of this political split are being met with direct, and sometimes violent, public protest.
