The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday appealed Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit to direct the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to pay for all advertisements issued by it in electronic, print and social media to promote the party in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat polls and also other states, adding that this has been done at the cost of the Punjab tax payers.
In a statement here, SAD leader and former minister Daljit Singh Cheema also requested the Governor to initiate a probe to quantify the amount, which “had been wasted in this manner” and direct AAP to pay the same from its coffers to compensate the Punjab government. “This can be done on the same pattern as directed by the Lt Governor of Delhi who has ordered recovery of ₹ 97 crore from the AAP government for publishing political advertisements in the name of government advertisements,” suggested Cheema.
He termed the state government’s action as a violation of Supreme Court guidelines on the use of public funds for government advertisements and the party should be hauled up for the same.
Cheema added that in Punjab, the AAP government had kept aside ₹ 750 crore for advertisements and was spending an average of nearly ₹ 3 crore on advertisements every day, adding that a majority of this advertisement expenditure has been done outside the state, particularly in Himachal and Gujarat where elections were held recently,” he pointed.