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Punjab opposition leaders put up united front against AAP govt probe
Punjab VB had summoned Ajit Group editor-in-chief Barjinder Singh Hamdard on May 29 for an inquiry into the alleged misuse of funds during the execution of the ₹315-crore Jang-e-Azadi Memorial dedicated to freedom fighters at Kartarpur near Jalandhar
In a rare display of solidarity, opposition leaders of Punjab came together on one stage in Jalandhar on Thursday to protest the vigilance bureau (VB) probe against Ajit Group editor-in-chief Barjinder Singh Hamdard.
In response to a call by the Congress, senior leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party joined the protest against the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, and senior party leaders Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Navjot Singh Sidhu were joined by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, state BSP president Jasbir Singh Garhi, state BJP president Ashwani Sharma and party leader Sunil Jakhar and Lok Insaf Party’s Simarjit Singh Bains at the protest.
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The VB had summoned Hamdard on May 29 in an inquiry into the alleged misuse of funds during the execution of the ₹315-crore Jang-e-Azadi Memorial dedicated to freedom fighters at Kartarpur, 18km from district headquarters.
However, the summons were deferred after Hamdard sought 10 days’ time.
Hamdard, who was instrumental in the conception and construction of the project since 2012, had quit as member secretary of the Jang-e-Azadi Memorial Foundation and as its managing committee president on April 10, blaming the AAP government of “repeatedly maligning the name of the memorial by sending police and vigilance teams”.
In March, on the basis of complaints of alleged misuse of funds in the construction of the memorial, the Jalandhar vigilance bureau initiated a probe. Besides conducting multiple checking at the site and confiscating official records from drawings to funds sanctioned by the state government from 2014-16, the VB questioned the memorial’s managing committee secretary.
Spread over 25 acres at Kartarpur and located 18km from Jalandhar, the mega project was the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government’s dream project.
The memorial was one of the dream projects of former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal as the first phase was opened to the public in 2016. During his tenure, Captain Amarinder Singh ensured all financial assistance and logistics to complete the second phase of the project in 2018.
The memorial is a unique piece of art that has a minaret, a seminar hall, an auditorium, a movie hall, a cafeteria, a library, an open-air theatre for laser show and an amphitheatre.
