As the Akali Dal on Monday took on the Congress for inducting a “gangster” in its party to win the ensuing elections by hook or crook, Punjab’s ruling party said that it was difficult to vet every individual when hundreds of people are joining the party.
Maintaining that the joining of gangster was neither deliberate nor condonable, Congress candidate from Patiala and former Union Minister Preneet Kaur — in whose presence the alleged gangster Randeep Singh Kharoud joined the Congress past week — made it clear that he would not be allowed to remain a member of the Congress at any cost.
She added that the party had zero tolerance to criminals getting into politics through nefarious ways.
An alleged gangster Randeep, hailing from Baran in Sanaur and is facing attempt to murder, arms and robbery cases, had joined the Congress last week. Notably, he had been desperate to join politics for the past three years, and had earlier made an attempt to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
“The gangster in question had joined the party in Patiala at a function last week as part of a group of some 1,500 Panjabi University students and I was not aware of his criminal antecedents,” said Preneet.
Pointing to the fact that Randeep had been a supporter of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the past, Preneet said that he had evidently found an easy way to foray into politics by projecting himself as a student and a political activist.
Notably, Randeep was sidelined by Patiala MP Dr Dharamvir Gandhi after his name cropped up in many criminal cases.
Preneet said: “When hundreds of people are joining the Congress in one go, it becomes difficult to vet each of them...Now that Randeep’s background has been brought to my notice, I would personally ensure that he is thrown out of the party.”
She added that the law would take its course as far as the criminal cases against the gangster were concerned.
At the same time, she urged all parties, including SAD and AAP, to be more cautious. The Congress, on its part, would take steps to become even more vigilant, and further tighten its screening framework before admitting anyone into the party, said Preneet.
“Allegations of political patronage to gangsters and hardened criminals were rampant during the previous regime,” she said, asking the Akalis to focus more on monitoring their own activities than on accusing the Congress of “trying to win the Lok Sabha elections by hook or by crook.