Chandigarh, April 24: Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) General Secretary Baltej Pannu on Friday launched a scathing attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing him of orchestrating a deliberate and coordinated conspiracy to destabilise the party by misusing Central investigative agencies and engineering the defection of at least seven AAP Members of Parliament. The allegations, made at a press conference in Chandigarh, mark one of the most direct confrontations between AAP and the BJP-led Union government in recent months.

The Alleged Blueprint: A Ministerial Bribe and a New Party

Pannu claimed that Amit Shah has offered Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha a Union Cabinet ministerial post in exchange for successfully breaking away at least seven AAP MPs and shepherding them into a newly formed political outfit backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Amit Shah is actively working to weaken AAP by engineering defections and using Raghav Chadha as a tool to execute this plan, Pannu said, adding that credible internal party sources had flagged the alleged deal.

He further claimed that a BJP-backed new political party is currently being formed through Chadha, and that active efforts are underway to lure sitting AAP MPs into joining it through a combination of incentives and intimidation.

ED Raids Termed Politically Motivated Pressure Tactics

Pannu directly linked recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on AAP MPs to this alleged destabilisation campaign. He pointed out that the targeted MPs are businesspersons who had never previously faced such enforcement actions, calling the timing and nature of the raids clearly politically motivated.

Our MPs are being pressured through false ED raids, intimidation tactics, and coercion, he said, adding that agencies like the ED, CBI, and even the Election Commission of India are activated ahead of elections to serve the BJP's political interests.

This comes amid a broader national pattern where opposition-ruled states have repeatedly alleged misuse of Central agencies. Notably, similar accusations were levelled by AAP during the Delhi liquor policy case in 2023-24, which led to the arrest of former Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia.

Baltej Pannu's Warning to Raghav Chadha and the BJP

Pannu did not hold back in his personal attack on Raghav Chadha, who was once among AAP's most prominent young faces and was elevated to the Rajya Sabha at a relatively young age on the party's strength.

The party gave him immense respect and elevated him to Parliament at a very young age, but he has now stabbed Punjab in the back, Pannu said, invoking Punjabi pride in his warning: Punjabis love wholeheartedly, but they also know how to deal with those who betray them.

He issued a pointed warning to the BJP: Do not take enmity with Punjabis. It will prove very costly.

AAP's Track Record Against Destabilisation Attempts

Pannu cited AAP's four-year governance record in Punjab, now entering its fifth year, as evidence of the party's resilience against repeated destabilisation bids. He claimed that AAP MLAs had been offered money, threatened, and lured with false promises on multiple occasions, yet the party remained intact.

Claims were made that dozens of MLAs were in contact with the BJP, but nothing materialised because our leaders are committed to public service, he said.

He also referenced the Delhi Assembly elections, where he said the BJP failed to break AAP through similar tactics. Critics, however, note that AAP lost the Delhi elections in February 2025, a significant political setback that may have emboldened rivals to push harder in Punjab.

Broader Political Implications for Punjab and National Opposition

The allegations carry significant weight given that Punjab is one of the last remaining states where AAP holds government power after its Delhi defeat. A successful defection of seven MPs could signal a broader unravelling of the party's parliamentary presence and weaken its national opposition credentials.

Analysts note that the BJP has historically used a combination of electoral strategy and institutional pressure to consolidate power in opposition-ruled states, a pattern visible in Maharashtra (2019), Goa, and Manipur. Whether AAP can withstand this pressure in Punjab will be a key test of the party's organisational strength heading into future electoral cycles.

With Punjab local body elections and the broader 2027 Punjab Assembly elections on the horizon, the political temperature in the state is set to rise sharply in the coming months. All eyes will now be on Raghav Chadha's next public move and whether any AAP MP formally crosses the floor.