The Punjab government suffered a major setback in the Supreme Court on Wednesday after its plea to cancel Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira's bail - in a criminal intimidation case - was rejected. The top court said it would not interfere with the order passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The Supreme Court also reprimanded Punjab's ruling Aam Aadmi Party - struggling to stitch, and hold, an alliance with the Congress, telling it "you should have been cautious while filing the chargesheet... if you thought Khaira was also involved you should have named him in the beginning".
Mr Khaira is accused of threatening a person in connection with a drugs case.
READ | Punjab Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira Gets Bail In Intimidation Case
The Supreme Court's rejection of rejecting the AAP's plea underlines its tenuous relationship with the Congress, with whom it is supposed to be contesting today's Chandigarh mayoral election.
The alliance for the Chandigarh mayoral poll had been held up as the first positive step in talks between the two sides - both members of the INDIA opposition bloc - for seat-sharing for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, now just weeks away. AAP leader Raghav Chadha had hailed the "historic" news and billed the mayoral poll as the perfect curtain-raiser. "After this... it will be INDIA 1 - BJP 0."
READ | "Scorecard 1-0 In INDIA's Favour": AAP, Congress Tie Up For Key Polls
Hours later that bonhomie was nowhere in evidence, with the Congress' state unit calling Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann "Hitler". The Congress' Pratap Singh Bajwa said, "The first thing I would like to advise them (the AAP) is to pull down pictures of Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh... and replace it with Adolf Hitler... if you see carefully, picture of Hitler matches with one of their leaders."
READ | Congress's "Hitler" Attack On Arvind Kejriwal Amid Key Poll Pact
The two parties' central leadership are working towards an understanding with the general election in mind, but, in Delhi and Punjab, both ruled by the AAP, there seems to be no desire for any accord.
The AAP is in power in Delhi and Punjab, where it ousted the Congress in a statement win in February last year, and is reluctant to give up ground in either state, with even Chief Minister Mann speaking out.
In December the AAP's Punjab unit threw a spanner in INDIA's works and said it is unwilling to ally with its former rival. The final decision, however, depends on party boss Arvind Kejriwal.
READ | AAP's Punjab Unit Says "Won't Ally" With Congress For 2024 Poll: Sources
Concerns over seat-sharing within INDIA were first red-flagged after the Congress' dismal showing in last year's Madhya Pradesh Assembly election; the party was expected to run the ruling BJP close but wound up the wrong side of a landslide win, prompting finger-pointing of its snubbing INDIA ally Samajwadi Party's request to contest six of the state's 230 seats. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, whose ruling Trinamool is also wary of sharing seats with the Congress, led that charge.
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