AAP ‘blames’ Delhi leaders

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 20

The state unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today passed a resolution seeking autonomy in functioning, even as it cited the Delhi team’s control over state affairs as a key reason for the party’s poor show in the Assembly elections.

The resolution was read out by party MLA and Chief Whip Sukhpal Khaira in the presence of all candidates during a meeting held here at the residence of HS Walia, party nominee from Jalandhar Cantt. MPs Bhagwant Mann and Sadhu Singh were also present. Mann and Leader of the Opposition HS Phoolka were part of the deliberations, but they left the venue before the resolution was passed. The resolution also called for restructuring of the state unit.

State party convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich, speaking to the media after the meeting in the presence of Khaira, Kanwar Sandhu and other MLAs, said, “Consensus has emerged that the Punjab unit should take charge rather than the Delhi team.”

On whether the state unit would apprise the top brass of the deliberations, Waraich said, “We will express our views before the Political Affairs Committee (PAC).”

On senior party leaders Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak’s absence from today’s meeting, Waraich said, “They were here only for the elections. From now on, the state unit will take decisions regarding the corrective measures. The Delhi team will not intervene in the state’s affairs.” He said the party suffered as it did not announce a CM face before the elections.

Demands white paper on unspent SC funds

Chandigarh: The AAP has demanded a white paper besides a commission to explain underutilisation and misuse of SC funds. Stating that the previous SAD-BJP government had failed to optimally utilize such funds allocated under the Scheduled Castes Sub- plan (SCSP), AAP state vice-president Paramjit Singh Kainth on Monday alleged that out of an outlay of Rs 21,888 crore for the last four fiscals (2012-13 to 2015-16) only Rs 16,846 crore had been spent so far for the beneficiaries. "A total of Rs 5042.03 crore was left unused since this amount could not be transferred to another account or lapse. No transparency or statement has been offered by the state on this unused amount over the years. It's high time that we create a transparent and efficient system to utilise such funds", Kainth added. The government should release a white paper on this issue a special cell should be formed in the CM's office which shall supervise and monitor such the schemes and funds for the community. A commission should also be formed to inquire into the funds misused during the past 10 years of SAD-BJP government which should also inquire the Post Matric Scholarship scam during the past five in the universities and colleges. TNS