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Ludhiana BJP gen secy accuses Cong MLA of ration scam
Bansal said he checked the stock following complaints that the ration was only reaching select people close to MLA Panday or Sandhu, while the rest is rotting in the godown
General secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ludhiana unit, Parveen Bansal, on Thrusday accused Congress MLA Rakesh Panday for selectively distributing and wasting ration sent by the central government for the poor.
Members of the district BJP unit led by Bansal reached a school run by Congress worker Baljinder Singh Sandhu, husband of Congress councillor of ward no 91, Gurpinder Kaur, in Sandhu Nagar, where the ration is stored.
Bansal said he checked the stock following complaints that the ration was only reaching select people close to MLA Panday or Sandhu, while the rest is rotting in the godown.
“Today, some residents of the area lodged a complaint that a huge pile of ration was dumped, following which we decided to conduct an inspection. We were shocked to find a huge stockpile of ration kits and unaccounted ration dumped in the godown,” alleged Bansal. He said that over 1,500 rations kits were kept in the godown and some of the stock was rotten and infested with worms.
The ration kit include 2-kg sugar, 2 pulses or gram and 10-kg flour meant for distribution among the poor.
Terming it a scam, Banal has demanded high-level probe in the matter.
Bansal said that even during the lockdown, migrants had protested against the Congress councillor’s husband for withholding the ration.
Sandhu, on the other hand, said the allegation were baseless.
He said that everything was accounted for and the ration was being equally distributed among the councillors who are distributing it to the poor.
“The distribution work is being carried out in a transparent manner and that’s why we asked the opposition leader to verify the stock kept in the godown,” said Sandhu.
On the other hand, MLA Panday hit out at the BJP for playing cheap politics to hog limelight.
“BJP has a habit of creating an issue out of nothing. We are open to any kind of verification. Rather than visiting the godown, Banasal could have asked me about the status of ration. He could have visited district food supply office or lodged a complaint with the minister. But, he opted to visit the godown for photo opportunity,” Panday said.
On the other hand Raju Thapar, husband of Reenu Thapar, Congress councillor from ward No 83, said that that he has not received any ration kit for the past month.
