PANDORI (BARNALA): AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal visited Punjab amid a rebellion crisis in the party’s state unit on Sunday. In Barnala for the bhog of the father of Mehal Kalan MLA Kulwant Singh Pandori, the Delhi CM termed the rebellion led by Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira as a “family affair which will be set right soon”, but did not exchange a single word with the dissenting leader.Though he tried to downplay dissent, Kejriwal, who caused heartburn among party’s Punjab leaders by apologizing to SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia in March, kept away from Khaira and did not exchange greetings with him. Khaira — who has led a rebellion in the unit after he was removed unceremoniously as the leader of opposition in assembly — attended the ceremony with four MLAs of his faction.Kejriwal and Khaira were seated close by, but neither of them tried to reach out to each other. Khaira did not even name Kejriwal in the speech he made to pay tributes to Pandori’s father, Kaka Singh.Kejriwal first held a meeting with MLAs at Barnala legislator Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer’s home and then reached Pandori. He was accompanied by Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia , MPs Bhagwant Mann and Sadhu Singh, leader of opposition Harpal Singh Cheema (leader of opposition), and seven MLAs.On reaching the venue, he did not look at Khaira and his supporters, who were seated near the stage. Meanwhile, Khaira was the first to reach the venue along with MLAs Nazar Singh Manshahia, Jagdev Singh Kamalu, Jai Kishan Rodi and Pirmal Singh Khalsa. “I was not informed about Kejriwal’s visit, though MLA Aman Arora met me two days ago. He asked me to sink differences and stop maligning other leaders on social media, but I asked him to first accept the resolution we passed in Bathinda on August 2,” Khaira said.

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