The latest flashpoint in Punjab politics, triggered by Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira’s bid to accuse Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of attending the Assembly in an inebriated state, is not just an isolated controversy, but a continuation of a long-running conflict between Khaira and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).A day-long special session of the Punjab Assembly on Friday, summoned to discuss a resolution on the revision of wages on the occasion of Labour Day, witnessed unruly scenes as the Congress walked out of the House twice, alleging that Mann was in an inebriated state. The session began on an amiable note, but things took a turn when Mann objected to Khaira allegedly using a mobile phone while the resolution was being discussed.AdvertisementKhaira’s allegation against the CM on the floor of the House set off a storm. The Congress, led by Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa, wasted no time in launching a diatribe against Mann. Bajwa also wrote to Speaker Kultar Sandhawan, seeking a breathalyser test for Mann and other MLAs.The row has revived an old and uneasy history between Khaira and the AAP that dates back to the beginning of the latter’s rise in Punjab about a decade ago. Khaira, 61, a three-time MLA from Bholath, was once among the AAP’s prominent faces in the state. Joining the AAP ahead of the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, he quickly rose through the ranks.When the AAP emerged as the principal Opposition in the 2017 polls, Khaira became the LoP. At the time, the AAP’s Punjab unit was seen as a challenger to the state’s entrenched political order dominated by the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and Khaira, with his independent streak, embodied that promise.AdvertisementHowever, soon, their relationship turned sour. The tension between Khaira and the AAP leadership, particularly over issues of autonomy and decision-making, began to surface. By mid-2018, after a series of public disagreements, he was removed as the LoP, marking the first decisive rupture between him and the AAP. The fallout deepened when he formally quit the party in 2019 and floated his own outfit, Punjab Ekta Party, to carve out an alternative political space in the state.However, Khaira soon became entangled in legal troubles. In 2021, he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering case linked to a 2015 drug smuggling probe under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. He has consistently denied the allegations.Since his first arrest by the ED in November 2021, Khaira has been held three times across different phases of the investigation. After an initial arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the matter resurfaced in September 2023 when the Punjab Police arrested him again under the NDPS Act after a fresh probe revived the case. In January 2024, shortly after securing bail in the same case, Khaira was re-arrested in a separate but related matter, including over allegations like witness intimidation. Taken together, these three arrest episodes, one by the ED and two by the Punjab Police, have formed the basis of Khaira’s allegations of political vendetta.In 2022, when the AAP swept the Punjab elections and Mann took over as the CM, Khaira, now with the Congress, found himself in direct opposition to a party he once helped build. The confrontations that followed were both political and personal.The tensions escalated further with administrative actions, including the demolition of a structure at his ancestral property that Khaira described as “bulldozer politics”. In response, he sharpened his rhetoric, accusing Mann of authoritarian functioning and attempting to silence dissent. Khaira has also claimed that he is often not given the mic to speak in the Assembly.Khaira has not just been seen attacking the AAP government but also going after Mann’s personal credibility, a tactic that carries political weight because of their shared past within the AAP.you may like“I cannot do anything about it. Every time there is an Assembly session, it is the CM, his ministers and colleagues who target me and end up making a fool of themselves. Yesterday (Friday) was a perfect example. He was in an inebriated state. I was reading the prisons Bill on my phone when he took on me saying I was not listening to the Speaker. I was not saying anything…They keep doing all this all the time. They never allow me to speak… But I will not get cowed down. My struggle will continue,” Khaira said.The AAP has, however, continued to defend Mann against Khaira’s accusations. Cabinet minister Harpal Singh Cheema said Khaira was very “individualistic”. “He only thinks about himself. This is the reason he does not bother about his organisation. He has never been a disciplined soldier,” Cheema said.