Two AAP MLAs quit, blame Kejriwal and Bibhav Kumar for Punjab’s plight

Chandigarh. The Aam Aadmi Party lost two sitting Punjab MLAs on Sunday, and the pair did not go quietly. On the day they quit, they held party chief Arvind Kejriwal and his aide Bibhav Kumar responsible for the drug crisis, crime and broken poll guarantees in the state.

Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra of Sanour and Chetan Singh Jouramajra of Samana walked out a day after AAP named its first 40 candidates for the 2027 Assembly polls. Both resigned amid uncertainty over whether they would be renominated. Pathanmajra sent his letter to Kejriwal, quitting with immediate effect and giving no reason. Jouramajra, a former cabinet minister, announced his exit on social media.

Facing reporters at the Chandigarh Press Club, the two turned their fire on the very top of the party. They said Kejriwal and Bibhav Kumar must answer for the political and administrative state of Punjab today. The people of Punjab, they added, are owed an account of every guarantee AAP made to win power.

Naming Bibhav Kumar was a pointed choice. Kumar is Kejriwal’s former aide, accused of assaulting AAP MP Swati Maliwal, and was later given a top administrative post in Punjab. AAP’s rivals have long used him to argue that Punjab is run from Delhi. Two of AAP’s own legislators are now making the same charge.

‘Drug-free Punjab’ a failed guarantee

The sharpest attack was on drugs. AAP had promised a drug-free and corruption-free Punjab. More than four and a half years later, the two MLAs said, chitta is still sold openly, drugs are home-delivered, and addiction is still tearing families apart.

They asked who protects those who speak up. They cited the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa. Jhota was shot dead on October 13, allegedly by a medical shop owner he had confronted over the sale of addictive drugs to an elderly man. The CBI has since taken over the case.

‘Criminals don’t fear the law’

Chain snatching, extortion calls, gang activity and murders have left ordinary people and traders scared, the MLAs said. Criminals no longer fear the law, they alleged, pointing to crimes committed near police stations and SSP offices.

Graft: ‘one rule for some’

The two alleged that bribes are still paid at tehsils, police stations and government offices. Citing the cases of former minister Vijay Singla and minister Sanjeev Arora, among others, they accused the government of using different yardsticks for different people. The ED arrested Arora in May in a money laundering case linked to alleged GST fraud of over ₹100 crore.

Farmers, employees still waiting

On farmers, they listed the unkept promise of MSP on all crops, the procurement of maize and moong, urea shortages and the Kisan Samman Nidhi.

Employees and pensioners, they said, are owed about ₹14,191 crore in dearness allowance and dearness relief. Sixth and Seventh Pay Commission arrears remain unpaid, and contract workers are still waiting to be made permanent.

One teacher, 77,000 students

Nearly 2,400 government schools in Punjab run on a single teacher, the MLAs claimed, with about 77,000 students between them. In colleges, 1,531 professor posts are vacant. In the health department, 1,098 posts lie empty.

They also questioned the state of rural dispensaries and primary health centres, the shortage of doctors, the Ayushman scheme and the promise of 16 new medical colleges.

Dalit deputy CM, sacrilege justice

On Dalit issues, they raised scholarships, political representation, atrocities against the community and the unkept promise of a Dalit deputy chief minister. They also reminded the government that those behind sacrilege cases are yet to be punished, despite its promise.

Long road to the exit

Both men had been drifting away from AAP for months. Pathanmajra fell out with the government in September 2025 after blaming irrigation officials and his own government for the flood situation. Within a day, his security was withdrawn. He was then booked in a rape case, which he has called political vendetta, and escaped police custody in Haryana.

Jouramajra was sidelined in his own seat when the party appointed former Akali leader Surjit Singh Rakhra as AAP’s constituency in-charge in Samana. Asked about his next step, Jouramajra said only, “We will talk later.”

Neither has announced joining another party, though there is speculation about a move to the BJP. AAP did not immediately respond to the allegations.