Chandigarh, April 25 -- Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday launched a blistering attack on Raghav Chadha and six other Rajya Sabha members who resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Mann termed the defectors "traitors of Punjab" and asserted that their departure would have no impact on the party's strength or its commitment to the people. Targeting the BJP, he said: "When they did not find anything against Bhagwant Mann, they tried to break the AAP." Earlier, addressing a joint press conference in Delhi, AAP Rajya Sabha members Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal said they were joining the BJP. Chadha said nearly two-thirds of AAP's Rajya Sabha members had quit the party to join the BJP as a separate faction. They are Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal. The chief minister, who landed in a political crisis after returning from a week-long visit to the Netherlands and Finland to attract investment for the state, said the outgoing Rajya Sabha members were creations of the AAP rather than leaders in their own right. "The party is bigger than any individual. These 6-7 people who have left do not comprise Punjab. They were not mass leaders. Let me be clear-none of them is capable of becoming even a village sarpanch on their own merit. In a democracy, the party is supreme, not individuals who come and go as per their whims and fancies," Mann said. Mann said that the AAP draws its strength from ordinary people and remains rooted in a principled, transformative vision. "Punjab will not spare these traitors. They have sold the mandate of the people for personal gain. The people of Punjab have never forgotten acts of betrayal, and those who deceived them have vanished into political oblivion," stated Mann. Reinforcing the party's central leadership, Mann said, "The entire state of Punjab stands united with (AAP national convener) Arvind Kejriwal. We are a party of revolutionaries, and we do not bow down to pressure tactics.Our legislative party remains united and committed to Punjab's progress." Mann said that ever since the strict law against 'beadbi' (sacrilege) was enacted, the BJP's unease has been evident, as it struggles to accept decisive action on an issue deeply tied to Punjab's sentiments. "The BJP has repeatedly faced rejection in Punjab and has responded with hostility towards both the state and the AAP, attempting to weaken a corruption-free government through intimidation, inducements, and efforts to engineer defections. The BJP's lack of political ground has pushed it towards such tactics even as visible improvements in schools, hospitals, roads, and employment have unsettled it," Mann said, asserting that the saffron party's political strategy across the country has been to weaken regional forces. Mann said the BJP is inimical to Punjab and has withheld the state's share of funds under the Rural Development Fund (RDF), National Health Mission (NHM) Fund and other schemes, jeopardising development. "With no base here, it (BJP) is trying to break our party using central agencies," he said. Taking a jibe at Chadha, Mann said, "A Rajya Sabha member who is now feeling suffocated in AAP due to personal interests had enjoyed the fruits of power in Kothi Number 50." Notably, House No 50 in Sector 2, Chandigarh, was the official accommodation allotted to Chadha by the Punjab government till recently....