Mann rejects reports of split in AAP Punjab unit

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday dismissed reports of a split in the Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab unit-amid reports of rumblings in the aftermath of the Delhi assembly elections-as party chief Arvind Kejriwal met MLAs from the only state where the AAP is now in power.

- Alok KN Mishra

NEW DELHI: Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday dismissed reports of a split in the Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab unit-amid reports of rumblings in the aftermath of the Delhi assembly elections-as party chief Arvind Kejriwal met MLAs from the only state where the AAP is now in power.

"We have worked hard and built the party. They (others) have the culture of switching sides, that is why they keep making such claims," Mann said about leaders from Congress and the BJP talking about dissension and mass desertions in the AAP.

"The party is united under Arvind Kejriwal and no force can break the AAP. In the days to come, the party will work harder in Punjab for the welfare of the people," the state's finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said.

More than 90 AAP MLAs from Punjab met Kejriwal at Delhi's Kapurthala House, where the affairs in the Punjab unit, the recent Delhi assembly elections, and the party's governance plan were discussed, according to people aware of the matter. The AAP has an overwhelming majority with 92 MLAs in the 117-member Punjab assembly.