Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha and senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa on Sunday accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of ignoring his party’s MLAs from Gurdaspur district.
Referring to a meeting of AAP Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal held in Gurdaspur on Saturday to review the development works there, Bajwa claimed that all five Congress MLAs from the district were not called to the meeting. Out of seven assembly constituencies in Gurdaspur district, five are represented by the Congress.
“AAP came to power in Punjab with the promise of badlav (change). It showed its true colours when five out of seven MLAs in Gurdaspur constituency, belonging to the Congress Party, received no information regarding a meeting convened by Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal to oversee developmental projects in Gurdaspur district,” said Bajwa.
By “ignoring” elected representatives and “sidelining” them, AAP’s “badlav” has ignored the will of the people in Gurdaspur, said Bajwa, adding, “This is in complete opposition to the beliefs of Dr BR Ambedkar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh, whom the AAP professes to follow”. Congress MLAs from Gurdaspur earlier raised the issue of interference by the “defeated” AAP candidates in the day-to-day working of the administration.
Speaking on the floor of the House, Congress MLA from Dinanagar Aruna Chaudhary had alleged that AAP's Shamsher Singh has been giving directions on development projects in her constituency and has been interfering in the official meetings.