Days after Rajya Sabha member Sandeep Pathak quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), along with six other MPs, and joined the BJP, the Punjab Police have reportedly registered two FIRs against him.The ruling party in the state had selectively released information about the MP being booked in the morning, saying the FIRs had been registered under non-bailable sections. No further details have been disclosed by the police so far, though sources in the state government early on Saturday morning said Pathak would be arrested “very soon”.Later, BJP leaders also claimed that the government had registered FIRs against Pathak.As the news spread, it was reported that a team of the Punjab Police had reached the Delhi residence of the MP in the morning. However, before they could reach him, he left his residence. In a video, Pathak was purportedly seen leaving his house from the rear lane in a car and refused to comment when journalists sought his reaction. He later said he was not aware of any FIR being registered against him.This prompted the Delhi Police to tighten security arrangements around Pathak’s residence. They deployed their personnel and the area around his house was barricaded as a precautionary measure.The developments drew sharp reactions from opposition parties in Punjab, with state BJP president Jattvibeil Jakhar calling it an attempt by the AAP government to browbeat Opposition leaders. He said the BJP was not intimidated by the FIRs filed by the Punjab Police, claiming that these actions “are meant to divert attention from CM Bhagwant Mann’s alleged conduct of arriving in the Assembly in an inebriated state on Friday”, a charge vehemently denied by the ruling party.Reiterating that the BJP stands firmly by its leaders, Jakhar said the party would oppose any form of “political vendetta”. He also cautioned officials against overstepping legal boundaries while carrying out such actions.On the FIRs, Jakhar said he did not have complete details. “I have learnt that one is regarding giving a threat to someone and another is about corruption charges,” he said.Punjab BJP’s working president Ashwani Sharma said, “The registration of non-bailable FIRs against Pathak after he quit AAP and joined the BJP clearly shows that the police are being used as a political weapon by Kejriwal and Mann. This is the politics of fear, panic and revenge.”SAD leader Bikram Majithia slammed AAP for “selectively targeting” those who fell out with it. “Pathak was once a trusted aide of Mann and Kejriwal. If he was wrong then, he was following his bosses Arvind. Then who was in collusion with him and why are they not being booked now?” he asked.Pathak, a former professor at the IIT-Delhi, was credited with drafting the AAP’s election and campaign strategy and building the party organisation. Once considered close to AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, Pathak played a significant role in the party’s victory in the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls.The development comes close on the heels of a raid conducted by the Punjab Pollution Control Board at the premises of Trident Limited on April 30. Rajya Sabha MP Rajinder Gupta is the chairman emeritus of the company. Gupta was also one of the seven MPs who quit the AAP and joined the BJP last month. Earlier, the Punjab Police had withdrawn the security cover of MP and former cricketer Harbhajan Singh.On April 24, AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs quit the party, alleging that the Kejriwal-led outfit has “strayed from its principles, values and core morals”.Besides Pathak, Gupta and Singh, the others who quit the party were Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal. Six of them were from Punjab.