New Delhi: Is this ‘mohabbat ki dukan’ of AAP, Congress?

New Delhi : Taking a swipe at the Congress and the AAP over the arrest of Punjab MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Union minister and BJP leader Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said it was their “mohabbat ki dukan” and showed the opposition coalition INDIA was falling apart in Punjab and Delhi.

Congress MLA Khaira was arrested by the Punjab Police Thursday morning in a drug trafficking case of 2015. Following his arrest, the Congress lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is in power in Punjab and Delhi.

Both the Congress and the AAP are part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). Asked about the Congress leader’s arrest on the sidelines of an event, Puri said, “This is ‘mohabbat ki dukan’ of the AAP and the Congress. I don’t want to interfere in this, but I want to tell you...this is the INDI Alliance falling apart in Punjab and Delhi.”

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi often uses the phrase -- “opening a shop of love (mohabbat ki dukan) in the market of hate” -- to criticise the BJP. Earlier in the day, AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said his party was committed to the opposition INDIA bloc and would not break away from it.

“The AAP is committed towards the INDIA alliance. We will not break away from the alliance. We are committed to fulfilling the alliance dharma,” he said here. On the arrest of Khaira, Kejriwal told a press conference, “I have heard about it but I don’t have details. You will have to talk to the Punjab Police.” The Punjab unit of the Congress has already opposed any alliance with the AAP in the state for the 2024 parliamentary elections.

Punjab Congress leaders Partap Singh Bajwa and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring claimed they were not allowed to meet arrested party MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in Fazilka.