AAP govt’s corruption pot filled to brim, its end near: BJP

Mohali: Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon on Wednesday accused the AAP government of indulging in rampant corruption and pushing the state to “ruin”, claiming that its “end is near”. His remark came a day after the CBI registered a corruption case involving an OSD to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and other senior officers on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and conducted searches at multiple locations including Mann’s “camp office”.

“The corruption pot of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has filled to the brim. Cases relating to the alleged loot of public money and corruption are now coming to light. Those who looted Punjab will have to answer to the people of the state,” Dhillon said. “The CBI has booked six persons, including two public servants, middlemen and associates namely Rajbir Ghuman, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Chief Minister, Punjab, Nitin Gohal, Jitin Gohal alias Raja, Romi Raja Mahajan, Bir Devinder, and R S Nagra, and unknown public servant(s) and private person(s),” the agency said.

During a protest by BJP workers against the Mann government here, Dhillon symbolically smashed a pot representing corruption. BJP workers subsequently also burnt an effigy of the AAP government as part of the protest.

The AAP government came to power projecting itself as an “honest government”, but cases allegedly linked to corruption and the misuse of public money were now coming to light one after another, Dhillon claimed. He said the people of Punjab are watching the developments closely and would give their verdict at the appropriate time. Referring to corruption-related cases in Punjab, Dhillon alleged that despite the Enforcement Directorate (ED) writing several times to the Punjab Police, the state government failed to conduct an appropriate investigation, forcing the matter to reach the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

He alleged that while action was being taken in the cases, the AAP government appeared “rattled” by the developments. The Punjab BJP chief said that if the AAP government had nothing to hide, it should face the investigations instead of questioning them.