AAP's Punjab MLA claims Haryana CM offered her BJP ticket for 2027 polls; Saini refutes charge

AAP's Punjab MLA Narinder Kaur Bharaj on Thursday claimed Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini offered her a BJP ticket for the 2027 Assembly elections in the border state, an allegation the BJP leader strongly refuted. When reporters approached Saini in the evening for his remarks on Bharaj's claims, the chief minister said, ''I don't even know her, nor the constituency she represents.'' The AAP MLA from the Sangrur seat also claimed to have been offered a closed-door meeting. Facing questions from mediapersons in Faridabad over the claim, a seemingly surprised Saini asked, ''When?'' Earlier in the day, Bharaj addressed mediapersons in Chandigarh and claimed that Saini, under the BJP's ''Operation Lotus'', contacted her a few days ago and gave a proposal for a ''closed- door meeting'' ''He offered me a BJP ticket from the Sangrur seat to contest elections. I was also told that whatever demand I put forth will be fulfilled,'' the first-time MLA alleged. ''Through the media, I want to tell the Haryana chief minister that whatever I am today, it is because of the AAP and the people of Punjab.'' ''They (BJP) need (to field) candidates from all constituencies,'' she added. Hitting back at the AAP over the Punjab MLA's claims, the Haryana unit of the BJP alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit's politics is based on ''lies, conspiracies, and drama''. Saini, while rejecting the claims, took a dig at the AAP government in Punjab, claiming the people of the border state were completely disappointed with it and have now made up their mind to elect the BJP to power in the 2027 elections. AAP general secretary and media in-charge Baltej Pannu, who was present with Bharaj during interaction with reporters in Chandigarh, said this is not the first time the BJP has tried to ''buy AAP MLAs, but they forget that Punjabis are known for their honour''. ''We warn the BJP to put this 'for sale' sign in some other state,'' Pannu said. ''The post of chief minister carries a certain dignity, which must be understood and upheld. Instead of hatching conspiracies to break other parties, Saini Sahib should learn from the AAP model how to serve people honestly,'' he added. Notably, this is not the first time that the AAP has made allegations referring to ''Operation Lotus''. In 2022, the AAP had claimed that the BJP had approached at least 10 of their MLAs, offering Rs 25 crore each in a bid to topple the six-month-old government under its ''Operation Lotus''. In Chandigarh, Haryana CM's media secretary Praveen Attrey junked Bharaj's allegation as baseless and stated that neither Saini met nor spoke to her. He told PTI that it was the AAP's modus operandi to tell lies to divert the attention of the people from the real issues. Attrey called the AAP's accusations ''diversionary tactics'' and said people of Punjab are now questioning the Bhagwant Mann government over its unfulfilled promises. Referring to her association with the AAP, Bharaj said she was the first woman polling agent in Bharaj village at the age of 19 in 2014. Impressed by AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann for their youth-oriented policies, she joined the party and has been a dedicated worker, Bharaj said. She added that she is the daughter of a small farmer and was given the ticket by AAP at the age of 27, and people made her the MLA of Sangrur in 2022. ''I want to tell Saini saab, he should not be under any misconception that we will fall prey to this kind of politics. We came into politics to change the system and committed ourselves to ensuring better health care and education for the people of Punjab'', she said. ''He should worry about Haryana,'' Bharaj said. Referring to Saini's frequent visits to poll-bound Punjab, she said the way Saini is roaming in the state these days, it appears that the BJP has sent him on deputation to Punjab. However, Saini told the reporters that he was invited by the people of the state. ''People of Punjab are fed up with the AAP. Farmers are disappointed as they are not getting remunerative prices for their crops. When farmers go to mandis to sell their produce, they face a lot of problems,'' Saini claimed, targeting the Bhagwant Mann dispensation. Calling the Arvind Kejriwal-led party ''jhooth ki dukan'', Saini said that they were shunned out of Delhi during the last assembly polls. ''People want a BJP government in Punjab under the leadership of PM Modi'', he said.