E-Paper
Jalandhar admn gets ₹2.18-lakh bill for AAP leaders’ stay at 4-star hotel
Mann, Kejriwal among others used hotel facility for 3 hours during the flagging off of Jalandhar-IGI airport bus service in June
FARIDKOT: The Jalandhar district administration has received a ₹2.18 lakh bill from a four-star hotel for the three-hour stay of senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, when they flagged off a government-run Volvo bus service from Jalandhar to the Indira Gandhi international airport in the national capital on June 15, according to information received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
An official on the condition of anonymity said that the Jalandhar administration is in a fix over how to clear the bill, which also includes four-day extra stay of a Delhi AAP leader.
RTI activist Jaspal Mann had filed an application for information on expenditure incurred on the event. The Jalandhar district administration has only provided the details of hotel bill, claiming that no other information on expenditure incurred on the event is available with the office of the deputy commissioner.
In the RTI reply, it was claimed by the administration that no fund was issued to this office for the event. The hotel has sent a total bill of ₹2.18 lakh, which includes ₹1.37 lakh for six rooms and ₹80,712 for 38 lunch boxes. The hotel has charged ₹50,902 for AAP Delhi leader Ram Kumar Jha’s stay and room service. Further details show the four-star hotel has charged ₹17,788 for room and service to Arvind Kejriwal, ₹22,836 for Bhagwant Mann, ₹15,460 for Delhi transport minister Kailash Gehlot, ₹22,416 for Parvesh Jha and ₹8,062 for the personal secretary to Delhi CM Bibhav Kumar, the RTI reply reveals.
AAP leaders also opted to halt at the expensive facility instead of a government circuit house which is a stone’s throw from the hotel.
Jalandhar deputy commissioner Jaspreet Singh said he joined the place of new posting in July and “has no information regarding the bills right now”. “I will check with the officials regarding this,” he added.
AAP spokesperson Malwinder Kang said the matter was not in his knowledge. “I will confirm this with officials concerned,” he said.
