The party claims that an amendment seeking revocation of former Prime Minister's Bharat Ratna was added to a resolution, but it wasn't passed
The party seemed divided over the issue in the House. Pic/PTI
Hours after unanimously passing a resolution, urging the Central government to withdraw Bharat Ratna conferred upon former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi over his comments after the 1984 Sikh riots, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has done a complete U-turn. The party is now claiming the draft of resolution didn't have a mention of the former PM's name — understandably to keep the alliance options open with the Congress for 2019.
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"Lines about late Rajiv Gandhi were not part of resolution placed before the House and distributed to the members. One MLA, in his handwriting, proposed an addition about him. Amendments cannot be passed in this manner," AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said. Bharadwaj said MLA Somnath Bharti had added the lines in the resolution which stands passed in the Assembly.
MLA Jarnail Singh, who moved the motion inside the Assembly, confirmed that a demand of striping Rajiv Gandhi of Bharat Ratna was indeed mentioned in the document. "Rajiv Gandhi had said 'the Earth shakes when a big tree falls', justifying the killings of thousands of Sikhs. We want the government to take back the Bharat Ratna from him," Singh told the media after the resolution was passed.
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