The suspension of Maur MLA Sukhveer Singh Maiserkhana from the Aam Aadmi Party two days ago for “anti-party activities” has brought into focus the ruling AAP’s continuing tensions with some independent-minded MLAs who refuse to toe the party line, especially in these final months before the Assembly elections.Maiserkhana is the second MLA to have been suspended after he criticised the government for its failure to fill vacancies in government schools. Kunwar Vijay Pratap, the Amritsar North MLA, was suspended from the party in June 2025 after he repeatedly criticised the government for failing to take the culprits in the 2015 sacrilege incidents to task, as well as over the lack of action against a top Akali Dal leader.AAP spokesperson Neel Garg said Maiserkhana was suspended because he had made false allegations against the party. “There are 25 teachers in the school and not a single vacancy. When he makes these false allegations, he is doing so with an ulterior motive. The party has to maintain discipline, and thus action against him was initiated. The story was similar in the case of Kunwar Vijay Pratap,” he said.In a party as large as the AAP, with 94 MLAs in a House of 117 (initially, 92 were elected and two more were elected in subsequent by-elections), the suspension of its legislators certainly attracts attention. Over the past five years that the party has been in power, some MLAs have gone public with their differences with the party, some have faced arrest, while others have been removed from organisational responsibilities. However, the fact remains that these disgruntled MLAs account for only a small minority in the large party. At least for the moment, the rest are hanging together.Party leaders say AAP is a “truly democratic party” that allows all its members to voice their opinions. AAP general secretary Harchand Singh Barsat told The Tribune that the party is open to hearing the genuine grievances of its leaders and workers alike. “But the leaders have to approach the party and seek a resolution here. They cannot go public against the party, as it amounts to indiscipline,” he said. But criticism of the government has persisted. In some cases, the party has now given a clear indication that these MLAs will not be fielded in the 2027 polls — some have already been replaced by new leaders as the party’s constituency in-charges.For example, Sanaur MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra has been “left to fend for himself” after his public criticism of the government over its handling of flood protection and relief work, and after he questioned the role of the bureaucracy. He has also faced criminal proceedings in a separate case.Earlier, some MLAs had also defected. In March 2024, Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural and Jalandhar MP Sushil Kumar Rinku joined the BJP. Angural resigned as MLA, and his resignation was accepted by the Punjab Assembly Speaker, leading to a by-election in Jalandhar West.Rinku had joined AAP from the Congress in 2023 and won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election on an AAP ticket. AAP subsequently named him as its candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha election before he switched to the BJP.Another Jalandhar legislator, Raman Arora, was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau last year in a corruption case. The party subsequently appointed Nitin Kohli as the new Jalandhar Central constituency in-charge.In Bathinda, both the Bathinda Rural and Bathinda Urban MLAs, too, seem to be off the party’s grid. While Bathinda Urban MLA Jagroop Singh Gill has been critical of the party more than once, Bathinda Rural MLA Amit Rattan Kotfatta was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in February 2023 in a bribery case. Subsequently, Gopal Singh was appointed as the new constituency in-charge for his constituency. In Bathinda Urban, AAP Mayor Padamjit Mehta now gets more prominence than MLA Gill.Admittedly, the cases of Arora and Kotfatta are different from those involving the other MLAs mentioned above, as the latter cases involve public differences and party indiscipline. These MLAs, along with Mansa MLA Vijay Singla (who was health minister when he was arrested and later dismissed from the Cabinet), were arrested in corruption cases. However, this did not change — except in the case of Vijay Singla — their equation with the party.