Amidst severe criticism by the Opposition over the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday backed Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann saying that the gangsters were born in the State under previous governments.

Maintaining that AAP led Punjab Government has upped the ante in his fight against the criminals, Kejriwal lauded Chief Minister Mann for reining in criminals who flourished under previous governments. Vowing to make Punjab “a gangster-free land”, Kejriwal said that gangster culture was “nurtured by the Akalis and Congress who openly patronised these criminals...Now when patronisation of these gangsters has ended, they will be soon behind the bars”.

Taking on the opposition parties, Kejriwal said: “I ask the Opposition, has Mann sahib brought gangsters with him? These gangsters were born under the previous government. No one can protect gangsters and anti-national elements. We will drag them from hell and put them in jail.”

Kejriwal also added that the VIP culture, inside the state prisons, has also been done away with. “Previously, gangsters used to operate from jails. After our party came to power, all such activities were stopped. There used to be separate VIP suites for leaders. Now, all VIPs stay in the same cell as any ordinary prisoners. All cell phones have been snatched away by the jail authorities,” said Kejriwal while launching a luxury bus service from Jalandhar to the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport.

Pointing out that more than 130 gangsters were nabbed in the last three months of AAP rule, Kejriwal said that whenever a crime is committed, the criminal gets caught, be it in a day or two. “No criminal used to get caught under earlier administrations. Previously, if anyone was caught committing a crime, the Police Department would immediately get a call seeking his or her release by the big bosses sitting in the ruling regime,” he said.

“Our police are also catching criminals in Punjab within 24-72 hours,” said Kejriwal, adding, “Patiala clashes accused caught within a day. Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi arrested by Punjab police, Kabaddi player Sandeep’s murderers have been jailed while all accused in the Mohali blast have been arrested”.

TRANSPORT MAFIA TO BE A THING OF PAST

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, flagging off bus service to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, New Delhi, from Jalandhar along with Kejriwal, said: “This is a historic occasion when the Punjab Government has fulfilled its promise with the people by ending monopoly of the private transporters and introducing cheap and luxury travel to IGI airport in merely Rs 1170 thereby stopping loot of the people.”

Mann said that daily seven Volvo buses will ply from Jalandhar bus stand to Delhi airport. “Similar buses will also move from Amritsar, Pathankot, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Patiala and even from Chandigarh daily to the airport for facilitating the passengers. With the plying of these buses, the passengers will get a comfortable, luxurious and cheap travel to airport at a meagre price,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that passengers, desirous of going to airport, can get the online booking done prior to three months of travel whereas the tickets can be booked at the counters of bus stand six months ahead of the journey. “AAP Government has got the mandate of the people to serve the State by eliminating the mafia. With the rolling of these buses now, transport mafia will also be a thing of past,” he added.

Bemoaning that for decades only private transporters had run their buses on this route and looted the people by charging impulsively, Mann squarely blamed the successive Congress and Akali governments for not plying government buses to airport as the vested interests of these leaders prohibited them from doing so. “The transporter leaders of both these parties minted money illegally by not allowing government buses to operate on this route,” he said.

PUNJAB’S AAP GOVT IS FIERCELY HONEST: KEJRIWAL

Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal said that AAP Government in Punjab had strongly and squarely hit the corruption in the State to wipe out this menace for the welfare of people. “There is a rare example of honest Government in the country as the AAP Government has put its own Minister behind the bars on the charges of graft. AAP Government has also waged a war against transfer and transport mafia so that people could not be harassed for the works in offices,” he said, adding that Punjab Government also started a campaign against illegal possessions on Panchayati lands which led to removal of such possessions on 5500 acres of land. He also announced that the services of more than 26,000 contractual employees would be regularised as the Punjab Government is set to enact a law in the ensuing budget session.

WHY PUNJAB BUSES NOT ALLOWED TO AIRPORT EARLIER: WARRING ASKS KEJRIWAL

Punjab Congress president and former Transport Minister Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Wednesday asked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as to why he did not allow the plying of Punjab Government buses up to the airport in Delhi earlier. Warring, taking to Twitter, shared an old video clip during his three-month tenure as Punjab Transport Minister where he had confronted Kejriwal in Amritsar, and had urged Delhi Chief Minister to allow plying of Punjab Government buses right up to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.

At that time, Warring had even suggested that the Delhi Government could operate buses from IGI airport to Punjab to provide benefit to the passengers and prevent exploitation by some powerful private bus operators. Though Kejriwal had agreed at that moment, he later backed out saying that the rules allow government buses to go up to the bus stand only. “If his government in Delhi could allow the buses up to the airport now, it could have done six months ago when I had urged him. But Kejirwal wanted to claim credit at the cost of common Punjabis,” he said, while remarking, “what he is doing now, he could have done six months before as we very much wanted government buses to ply up to the airport at that time also”.

Asking the Delhi Chief Minister what had changed in the last six months, Warring posed a few questions to Kejriwal. “Why didn’t you give this permission to our buses earlier? Were Punjabis punished for your credit hogging agenda?”

‘KHALISTAN ZINDABAD’ SLOGANS AHEAD OF CMS’ VISIT

Jalandhar: Hours ahead of the visit of Chief Ministers of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Bhagwant Mann to Jalandhar for the launch of government-run luxury buses to Delhi international airport, walls of a flyover were found scribbled with ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ slogans.

The Police personnel blackened the site to make it illegible. Later, Sikhs for Justice’s Gurpatwant Singh Panun released a video in the same context.