August 27: Asserting that the removal of Sucha Singh Chhotepur as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab chief on charges of corruption was an “orchestrated strategy”, the Congress Party on Saturday said that the game plan behind his removal is to prepare the ground for AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s move from Delhi to Punjab.
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Former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal said the Congress government led by Manmohan Singh had provided everything to Punjab as demanded by Badal, while on the other hand, BJP Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not even prepared to meet him.
This, despite 21 leaders from Punjab writing to the party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday asking him to sack Chhotepur in line with the party’s ideology of zero tolerance against corruption.
“There is no mercy for corruption in the party and if the evidence has reached our top leaders, there will be action against Chotepur”, said party spokesperson Himmat Singh Shergill.
The Aam Aadmi Party today removed its Punjab convener for allegedly accepting cash but stopped short of expelling him from the party considering the organisational clout he enjoys among Sikh voters.
“I want to tell them that the people whom they have included in the committee were recommending for my removal”.
He rued that Kejriwal and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had not given him the opportunity to explain his side. “But I don’t know what the party’s next course of action is”, he added.
In the first two lists of 32 candidates released by the AAP, Chhotepur’s name was strangely not cleared for any assembly seat, leading to speculation that all was not well within the party.
When HT contacted party MP and campaign panel head Bhagwant Mann on the matter, said the party has taken the matter “very seriously”.
“I have 40 years of political career”.
Chhotepur, 65, a time MLA who was a minister in Surjit Singh Barnala government in 1980s.
Though Chhotepur said, he is ready for any probe by any agency be it CBI. And why are they [party leadership] not making the video clip public.
AAP leaders had to face embarrassment last month when Delhi leader Ashish Khetan compared the AAP youth wing manifesto to the holy book of Sikhs, Guru Granth Sahib.
“It is unfortunate for Punjab (the present controversy)”.
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Stating that he was never for the Chief Minister’s post, Chhotepur alleged that AAP was in league with the Akali Dal to put up weak candidates.
