Chandigarh, October 7
Former Punjab president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Sunil Jakhar, said that the time had come for the Aam Aadmi Party government’s corruption game to end. He said Punjab would be freed from the plunder allegedly carried out by the party’s leaders and their henchmen. He also congratulated Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on completing 25 years in public life, saying that his pledge, “Neither will I indulge in corruption nor allow others to do so,” was being put into practice.
Addressing a press conference here today, Jakhar commented on the protests and lamentations by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and other AAP leaders over the CBI raids. He said the action had been taken on the orders of the Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High Court, rather than those of the Government of India. He said central agencies had repeatedly given the AAP government opportunities to investigate corruption cases itself, but in protecting his henchmen, the Chief Minister had brought the heat of the fire to his own doorstep. Had the Punjab Police and Vigilance Bureau conducted impartial investigations, he said, the Chief Minister would not have had to face this situation.
Jakhar further said he would urge the Government of India to ensure that the investigation was completed within a stipulated timeframe, in accordance with the court’s orders, and that the CBI was provided with the necessary staff so that AAP’s alleged pretence of being victimised could be exposed before the public.
Recounting the sequence of events over the past year and a half, Jakhar alleged that the plunder of Punjab’s treasury had multiplied since AAP’s defeat in Delhi and the subsequent takeover of the Punjab government by leaders left without office there. He questioned why Cabinet meetings during this period were being held at a particular bungalow instead of the Secretariat. He alleged that the Chief Minister’s role was limited to posing for photographs at the meetings, while Manish Sisodia made all the decisions. He alleged that Kejriwal’s gang had hatched a systematic conspiracy to loot Punjab and that those who had served as its pawns were now the most frightened. He said they would have to answer for their wrongdoing.
Jakhar also criticised the Punjab government over the lack of progress in the ₹5 crore bribery case. Taking a dig at AAP, he said the situation had reached a point where senior party leaders were discussing becoming approvers because they knew they had received only part of the loot , while Delhi gang had taken away the major chunk of this loot.
The former BJP state president said investigations into the cases involving DIG Bhullar and others should also be accelerated, and action should be taken against anyone whose name appeared in Bhullar’s diary.
Responding to a question from journalists, he said honest officers had nothing to fear, but anyone who had sullied their hands in this sea of corruption would have to face the consequences.