Navneet Chaturvedi Says Rajinder Gupta May Also Leave AAP and Join BJP
Navneet Chaturvedi is currently fighting a legal battle in the Punjab and Haryana High Court after controversy erupted over alleged forged signatures of AAP MLAs in the Punjab Rajya Sabha elections. And the Punjab government already seems to be on the backfoot. Chaturvedi has filed a petition in the High Court to club all cases registered against him at one place in Rupnagar (Ropar). The Punjab government was scheduled to file its reply on April 24, but in the court of Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya, the Advocate General sought more time to submit the response. The court has now directed the state government to file its reply by May 11.
Reacting to this, Chaturvedi said that the Punjab government deliberately implicated him in false cases to cancel his Rajya Sabha nomination, and claimed that it succeeded in doing so. He said that several leaders within the Aam Aadmi Party are unhappy and are joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. Targeting AAP, he said that those who sell Rajya Sabha seats for money cannot claim to speak about morality.
In the election petition filed by Chaturvedi, AAP Rajya Sabha MP, Rajinder Gupta, did not file a reply and cited illness. Senior advocate Satyapal Jain, appearing before Justice Sanjay Vashisth, informed the court that Rajinder Gupta had undergone heart surgery and requested one month’s time to submit the reply. Chaturvedi did not oppose the request on humanitarian grounds. The High Court will now hear the election petition on May 22.
Chaturvedi said that he is fighting against the Punjab government and does not hold any personal grievances against Rajinder Gupta. He wished Gupta a speedy recovery but added that Gupta’s legal team could have filed the reply. He said that repeated requests for time appear to delay the proceedings so that Gupta can continue as a Rajya Sabha MP without interruption. He added that the law requires election petitions to be decided within six months and expressed confidence that the High Court will declare the election null and void.
Chaturvedi also claimed that Rajinder Gupta may soon leave AAP and join the BJP as part of a deal to retain his Rajya Sabha seat, following Raghav Chadha.
