Leader of opposition (LoP) in the Punjab assembly Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday asked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab to book Bathinda Rural MLA Amit Rattan or be ready to face the consequences.
Accusing the state government of shielding the MLA, Bajwa said their fake promises of corruption-free government have got completely busted now. “If (chief minister) Bhagwant Mann will not ensure the arrest of MLA, the opposition will leave no stone unturned to get him behind the bars,” he said.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal too slammed the CM for not acting against his party MLA asking if Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal were shielding Bathinda Rural MLA because they were also beneficiaries of the his “ill-gotten wealth”.
Talking to media persons, Sukhbir alleged that instead of arresting the MLA, the AAP government in Punjab had gone into damage-control mode immediately after Resham Garg, an alleged aide of Rattan, was caught red-handed by the vigilance bureau, while accepting a bribe of ₹ 4 lakh from the sarpanch of Ghudda village. “This could have only been done on orders of Mann or Kejriwal,” Badal said.
“There is a recording of Amit Rattan demanding a bribe of ₹5 lakh from the sarpanch. The MLA was video graphed as being physically present at the Bathinda circuit house when the bribe was handed over to Resham,” said Badal. The AAP, however, dismissed the opposition’s claims, citing Rattan’s statement that he has no association with the person caught taking bribe. AAP’s state chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said that the state government has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and no officer or leader will be spared if found indulging in malpractices. “Be it a minister or MLA, the corrupt will not be spared at any cost,” he added, lashing out at the opposition for pointing fingers at the working of the AAP government. He also accused the Congress, SAD and BJP of patronising corruption and mafia during their regime.
{{/usCountry}}“There is a recording of Amit Rattan demanding a bribe of ₹5 lakh from the sarpanch. The MLA was video graphed as being physically present at the Bathinda circuit house when the bribe was handed over to Resham,” said Badal. The AAP, however, dismissed the opposition’s claims, citing Rattan’s statement that he has no association with the person caught taking bribe. AAP’s state chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said that the state government has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and no officer or leader will be spared if found indulging in malpractices. “Be it a minister or MLA, the corrupt will not be spared at any cost,” he added, lashing out at the opposition for pointing fingers at the working of the AAP government. He also accused the Congress, SAD and BJP of patronising corruption and mafia during their regime.
{{/usCountry}}Attacking the LoP, Kang said that Bajwa, who was sidelined in the Congress, is levelling baseless allegations against the government just to save his political career.