Oppn slams AAP over Kejriwal’s meeting with top officials in CM Mann’s absence

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said that Kejriwal, Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha and Delhi minister Satyender Jain held an official meeting with Punjab’s chief secretary Anirudh Tewari, power secretary Dalip Kumar and PSPCL chairman Baldev Singh Sran in the absence Mann and state power minister Harbhajan Singh

Chandigarh: The opposition parties in Punjab on Tuesday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over reports that party’s national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal met senior officials from the state for a meeting in the capital.

The opposition parties in Punjab on Tuesday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over reports that party’s national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal met senior officials from the state for a meeting in the capital.

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said that Kejriwal, Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha and Delhi minister Satyender Jain held an official meeting with Punjab’s chief secretary Anirudh Tewari, power secretary Dalip Kumar and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) chairman Baldev Singh Sran in the absence Mann and state power minister Harbhajan Singh.

“Will Punjab be puppeteered by Delhi people, in what capacity and on which issue was this meeting held? CM Sahib make it public..sar to jhuka diya he tha ab matha bhi tek diya hai kya,” Warring tweeted.

Warring also asked if senior officers of Punjab will have to mark their attendance in Kejriwal’s darbar. “Is Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann the head only in name?” he posted.

The state Congress president’s attack came just hours before Mann was scheduled to meet Kejriwal in Delhi to discuss the modalities to fulfil the poll promise of providing 300 units of free electricity to consumers in Punjab.

Punjab cabinet minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, however, did not see anything wrong with the state officials’ meeting with the party chief. “He (Kejriwal) is the national convener of the AAP and can hold a meeting. There is nothing wrong or condemnable about it,” he told a TV channel. Congress Legislature Party leader Partap Singh Bajwa also asked Mann to inform if the Delhi CM and ministers have indeed been meeting the state’s officers in the absence of the CM and Punjab ministers. “If so, this is a terrible violation of our rights as a state. The people of Pb did not vote for Govt to be remote controlled from Delhi (sic),” he wrote, retweeting the PPCC chief’s post.

Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira also termed the meeting as “gross interference” in Punjab’s domain by outsiders “which is totally unacceptable”. “@BhagwantMann must clarify his position and reprimand officers bypassing his and his minister’s authority,” he tweeted.

Former Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu also tweeted, “Punjab’s IAS officers summoned @ArvindKejriwal in CM @BhagwantMann’s absence. This exposes the Defacto CM and Delhi remote control. Clear breach of federalism, insult to Punjab pride. Both must clarify.”

Mann reduced to ‘rubber stamp’: BJP

The BJP said Kejriwal has finally taken over as the de facto CM of Punjab reducing Mann to ‘rubber stamp’. In a statement Punjab BJP general secretary Subhash Sharma said: “The way Kerjiwal had started taking meetings of Punjab officials had cleared all doubts about his real intentions that he was running the affairs of the government in the state.”

Warning Kejriwal against such an approach, the BJP leader said: “You are trying to hurt our sensibilities by subverting and sabotaging the powers of an elected CM, who is a Punjabi.”

Former minister and BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia shot off a letter to the governor for immediate action to restrain the officers of Punjab from transgressing the constitutional duties to please the so-called ‘political master’.

Worst feared, worst happened: Amarinder

Former CM Captain Amarinder Singh said Mann was a rubber stamp was a foregone conclusion already and now Kejirwal has proved it right by chairing Punjab officers’ meeting in Delhi. “Worst was feared, worst happened. Kejriwal has taken over Punjab much before it was expected to happen,” Amarinder tweeted.

Ensure state is not remote-controlled: SAD

The SAD asked the CM to ensure the state is not remote-controlled by the AAP government in Delhi or taken over by the Centre. “Instead of tackling the real issues of Punjab, the AAP government was trying to divert people’s attention,” said SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema. He also asked the CM to address the concerns of farmers who were seeking compensation on account of low wheat yield.