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Panthers Party office sealed, Harsh Dev alleges BJP-LG nexus
The party office in Jammu’s posh Gandhi Nagar area was sealed four days after former minister Singh quit Aam Aadmi Party and returned to the Panthers Party
: The estate department on Monday sealed the office of Panthers Party here, triggering strong reaction from party leader Harsh Dev Singh, who accused the LG administration of “surrendering” before the Bharatiya Janata Party and “allowing abuse of government assets”.
The party office in Jammu’s posh Gandhi Nagar area was sealed four days after former minister Singh quit Aam Aadmi Party and returned to the Panthers Party.
“The bungalow was allotted to Prof Bhim Singh in the capacity being a member of the legislative council after 2002 assembly polls. He, however, continued to occupy the premises even after his term expired,” officials said.
Accusing the BJP leadership of looting the resources of Jammu and Kashmir in connivance with the LG administration, Singh on Monday demanded a CBI probe “to break the unholy nexus in the UT to save it from economic and political disaster”.
“It was shocking that LG and his administration had surrendered before the saffron party and were openly allowing the abuse of government assets and properties by BJP leaders in violation of constitutional propriety and rule of law,” he told reporters here.
He said that the LG administration had coined two different sets of laws, one for BJP and the other for opposition parties.
“And, the BJP leaders had been granted immunity from all their acts of omissions and commissions, misfeasance and malfeasance, loot and plunder by the LG working under the tutelage of BJP. While on the contrary, the opposition leaders were being harassed, intimidated, bullied and persecuted without any justifiable reasons only to de-motivate and pressurise them,” Singh said.
Reacting to sealing of Panthers Party office in Gandhi Nagar, he described it as an absurd and motivated act of histrionics which was executed only to demoralise the party cadres.
“While dozens of BJP workers who did not hold any office under the government were allowed to occupy estates and other ministerial bungalows for the last around five years without entitlement, the lone Panthers Party office was sealed immediately after I joined the party and announced to intensify its activity. Not only the BJP, but several other allies of the BJP, including Apni Party and People’s Conference, were provided government accommodation and Estates bungalows at both Jammu and Kashmir despite the fact that they were not yet recognised by the Election Commission as state level parties,” he said.
“Moreover, the BJP leaders were allowed to illegally occupy the state lands worth crores by the present regime, whereas the poor are being evicted and rendered homeless,” he said.
Singh said that the Panthers Party, despite being a recognised state party, was being given a raw deal only for the reason that it was opposing anti-people, divisive and sectarian policies of the BJP.
