Taking a jibe on the BJP a day after four senior Congress leaders joined the saffron party, the Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday said that the party which talked of a ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ is itself becoming ‘Congress-yukt’.
Accusing the BJP of adopting double standards, AAP’s Punjab unit chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said that it had levelled various charges against many of the Congress leaders who joined it on Saturday. “BJP talks about ideology. Has it failed to create leadership in Punjab for so many years or are its leaders not competent that it has to take Congress’ kachra (garbage),” he alleged.
Former ministers and senior Congress leaders Raj Kumar Verka, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Sunder Sham Arora, and Gurpreet Singh Kangar joined the BJP on Saturday. Besides, former Congress MLA Kewal Dhillon and former Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLAs Sarup Chand Singla and Mohinder Kaur Josh also joined the BJP.
Kang said that when the BJP came to power at the Centre, it talked of a “Congress-mukt Bharat” (Congress-free India). “But going by the trend of the past few years, the reality is the opposite and the BJP is becoming Congress-yukt,” said Kang while referring to the BJP inducting several leaders from the grand old party over the years.
On the joining of four former Ministers, Kang said the BJP had inducted “rejected leaders” into its fold.
About former minister Sunder Sham Arora, Kang claimed that BJP leader Tikshan Sud had levelled serious allegations of corrupt practices against him. Likewise, other BJP leaders had also targeted Balbir Sidhu, who was the Health Minister in the erstwhile Capt Amarinder Singh-led government, over alleged corrupt practices, he said.
“The people of Punjab know their reality. They have already been rejected by people in the polls,” said Kang, adding, “BJP says they are against corruption, nepotism. But their double standards have been exposed.”
Ahead of the Punjab assembly polls, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal had in November during a visit to Amritsar said that many from the Congress were in touch with his party but it would not take their "kachra" (garbage).
On opposition parties targeting the Bhagwant Mann-led Government over alleged worsening law and order situation in Punjab, Kang said that whatever incidents have occurred, the Punjab Police has been proactively following and investigating them so that the culprits are punished.
Referring to singer Sidhu Moosewala's killing, he said that an (Special Investigation Team) SIT is already conducting a thorough probe.
Replying to a question, Kang said that Punjab Police is competent to carry out a thorough probe in the incident, but at the same time, the |Government will positively consider the demand of the family if it wants probe by a central agency.
