Congress Legislature Party leader Partap Singh Bajwa on Wednesday accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of “misusing” Punjab’s resources — including the security, resources, and bureaucracy — to increase its footprint in other states, including poll bound Himachal Pradesh.
Accusing the AAP government in Punjab for reneging on its poll promises, Bajwa minced no words to call Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann a “puppet on a string”, who is heading a government “being run from Delhi”. He said: “People of Punjab chose the government to function independently, not to function by proxy.”
Bajwa, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, asked AAP supremo Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to clear their stand on the controversial Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL), while questioning the “silence” of five AAP MPs who had been nominated to the Rajya Sabha recently saying that none had ‘released any statement on the issue’.
At the same time, Bajwa accused AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha of taking calls on postings and transfers of IAS and IPS officers in Punjab, alleging that such postings and transfers had ‘Chadha’s stamp’.
“AAP has taken people for a ride. They want to use (Punjab) as a springboard. They will use (state) resources, security and bureaucracy. They want to expand their footprint in HP, Haryana and Gujarat,” he said, addressing the media.
“It has started to appear as if Mann is a puppet on strings,” said Bajwa, alleging that things were being remote controlled from Delhi.
Also targeting the AAP government on its pre-poll promise of free electricity, Bajwa said that all promises made by the party were being tweaked and there was “no clarity” whether Punjab State Power Corporation Limited was for or against it.
He also demanded a white paper on the issue of free electricity promise, questioning if the AAP government had enough resources and money to provide power as promised to domestic consumers, the agriculture sector and the industry.
Referring to AAP's pre-poll promises, Bajwa said that AAP-led Government had not yet given Rs 1,000 to all women.
On SYL canal, Bajwa asked AAP chief to clear its stand on this matter. “I want to ask Kejriwal to make his stand clear on the statement of Gupta on the SYL issue,” said Bajwa, adding that AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Gupta's statement was against the interests of Punjab.
Bajwa also questioned the “silence” of AAP's five Rajya Sabha MPs over the SYL canal issue. “We do not have a single drop of water to share,” asserted Bajwa.
Qadian MLA further claimed that a woman from Delhi has been appointed by AAP to “oversee” the Finance Department in Punjab and asked Mann to clarify on this matter. “People of Punjab chose the government to function independently, not to function by proxy,” said Bajwa.
He also raised the issue of a recent meeting between Kejriwal and state officers in Delhi and asked the AAP government in which capacity the officials were sent there. On Mann's statement that the officers were sent for training, Bajwa said that it meant that they were not “competent”. “This is a big question mark on the capability of officers,” said Bajwa.
Bajwa further sought to know from the state police chief whether a contingent of the Punjab Police commandos had been deployed for Kejriwal's security.
He also accused Kejriwal of not acting against mafia “despite claiming that mafia contacted him to strike a deal with him”.