The Aam Aadmi Party, within 10 days of coming to power, had claimed that it has ended corruption in Punjab. According to Delhi chief minister and AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal, there is now no corruption in Punjab, since the chief minister Bhagwant Mann has packed the stalls of all corrupt leaders and officials. Kejriwal had said, “I don’t know how to do politics. But I know how to end corruption. We ended corruption in Delhi, where now you do not have to pay bribes in government offices. In Punjab, Bhagwant Mann ended corruption in ten days.”
Vijay Singla sacked over charges of corruption
Ironically, it is the Punjab government that has now sacked Punjab Health Minister Vijay Singla from the State Cabinet over allegations of corruption. He was later sent to three-day police remand by a local court in Mohali.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann informed that “he dismissed Mr. Singla from the Cabinet for allegedly seeking a 1% commission on tenders for contracts, etc. in the Health and Family Welfare Department, which he headed.”
The police registered a First Information Report (FIR) under Sections 7, and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act at Mohali in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar district against Mr Singla and his Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Pardeep Kumar.
A lovely list of corrupt leaders of AAP
Arvind Kejriwal’s politics is centred on ending corrupt practices. But he has failed at ensuring that corruption ends in Delhi, leave alone him doing so in Punjab within three months of gaining power. As a matter of fact, the allegations of corruption facing AAP and its corrupt leaders are rather serious, and if probed diligently, could end Kejriwal’s career as a politician.
Out of 92 MLAs from AAP Punjab, 52 are facing criminal charges. While Singla has been sacked from his position, there are many that are encashing profits from the party despite being involved in corruption cases.
Jaswant Singh is a sitting MLA from Amargarh, Sangrur, Punjab for Aam Aadmi Party. It was only last week when the Central Bureau of Investigation raided three locations linked to him in a bank fraud case of Rs 40 crore. An FIR was also registered in the matter against AAP MLA Jaswant Singh ‘Gajjan’, his brother Kulwant Singh and his nephew Jaswant Singh – all are the directors of the firm that is accused of causing the fraud to Bank of India to the tune of Rs 40 crores.
Moreover, AAP’s Patiala Rural MLA Dr Balbir Singh and three others, including his wife and son, were sentenced to three-year imprisonment in a 2011 assault case. The case was registered on the complaint of MLA’s sister-in-law Paramjeet Kaur, over a land dispute with the legislator. The court gave the verdict in her favour. Thus, the three assaulted the complainant’s husband on June 13, 2011. A case under Sections 323, 324, 325, 506, 148, 149 and 34 of the IPC was registered.
AAP Delhi has the maximum number of corrupt leaders
Talking about the tainted and corrupt leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, one cannot forget the Delhi riots and AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, who was recently convicted by the court. Moreover, leaders like Amanatullah Khan who are facing criminal charges are still a part of the party.
Read more: “Hum Rajneeti badalne aaye hain” Indeed!, AAP’s lovely list of crime tainted Candidates
Satyendra Jain: Earlier in 2018, CBI recovered property documents and bank deposit slips of about Rs 2 crore allegedly linked to Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain, and companies where he was the director.
In January 2016, Kejriwal famously predicted CBI raids on Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain. If we wind back our clocks a bit, Kejriwal was one of the few politicians who welcomed the Supreme Court’s order of allowing the CBI to investigate State Officers without getting their consent.
Kailash Gahlot: The income-tax (I-T) department, in 2018, had informed it had found documents that showed AAP’s state transport minister Kailash Gahlot had evaded tax worth Rs 120 crore — a claim that was denied by the minister.
The I-T department reported that documents recovered from the minister’s premises revealed that office boys, peons and employees had been extended loans and were holding equity worth ₹70 crore in several “shell” companies.
Read more: 13 doctors vs 52 criminals – Kejriwal’s ‘politics with a difference’
Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, an AAP MLA from Ajnala constituency of Amritsar district, was also charged with murder. He was charged under Section 302 of the IPC for killing Democratic Party of India worker, Buddh Singh during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The other two winning candidates who are accused under IPC section 307 are MLAs Sheetal Angural, of the Jalandhar West constituency, and Daljit Singh Grewal, of the Ludhiana East constituency, who has three cases against him.
In addition to Grewal, Manjinder Singh Lalpura, an AAP legislator from the Khadur Sahib constituency, also faces two charges of assaulting a woman. A total of five cases have been brought against Lalpura, including five serious IPC charges and 18 others.
However, the list is quite long to be mentioned. Thus, when the party fires one corrupt leader and protects others, it appears to be unfair. The AAP should fire other leaders too the way it has fired corrupt Singla.
