Chandigarh, April 27 -- Brushing aside claims that several party MLAs from Punjab are in contact with rebel Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state president and cabinet minister Aman Arora on Sunday dismissed any threat to the party or the stability of the state government, asserting that the situation is firmly under control. Arora said BJP leaders and Partap Singh Bajwa of the Congress had made such claims from time to time without basis. "When something like this (defection by Rajya Sabha members) happens, people start rumour-mongering and say all kinds of things. The AAP has faced setbacks before. Each time, the party has come out stronger. And, there is no truth in claims being made by Chadha, Bajwa and others," he told HT. Chadha, who led the breakaway faction of seven of the 10 Rajya Sabha members of AAP and merged it with the BJP, also claimed on Friday that two-thirds of the party's 94 MLAs were in touch with him. Six of these defectors - Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Vikramjit Sahney, Harbhajan Singh and Rajinder Gupta - are from Punjab, which sends seven MP to the upper house of Parliament. On Sunday, Bajwa also claimed that AAP legislators would desert the party and that its government would collapse like a "house of cards". The AAP state chief said he did not believe there was any truth to these claims. "Be it Raghav Chadha, any minister or any MLA, they are in the positions they hold because of the party. When he (Chadha) had the blessings of Arvind Kejriwal ji, party leaders were in touch with him. Now that he has betrayed the party, I am sure they are not in touch with him," he said. On Chadha and others' rebellion, Arora said while everyone knew about Raghav Chadha and Swati Maliwal turning against the party, the exit of the other five MPs came as a shock to him. "They have back-stabbed the party and Punjab. These people deserted the party due to greed or fear. One may have a personal ambition and another may be afraid of the ED and CBI," he claimed. Asked about AAP's national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak's exit, Arora said Pathak did a lot of work before the assembly elections, and was at the helm when Arvind Kejiwal and several other top leaders were in jail. "The exit of such a leader is shocking. I am not aware if he had any grudges. I hadn't been in contact with him for over a year because he was less involved in Punjab affairs than before, with Manish Sisodia ji and Satyendar Jain ji taking care of the party's affairs in the state. I think most people in the party do not have any idea why he has left," he said. When asked about steps being taken to address disaffection among party legislators, Arora said the party had been performing well in Punjab for the past four years. "There is widespread positivity among the people about its policies and welfare schemes. There is no reason for concern," he said....