BJP trains guns on Punjab CM Mann, Kejriwal, alleges AAP shielding corrupt

The BJP on Saturday accused CM Bhagwant Mann of “shielding the corrupt” and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal of “looting Punjab”. State BJP president Sunil Jakhar, addressing a press conference, alleged that the ED raids on ministers, including Sanjeev Arora, were action against those accused of grabbing farmers’ land through fraudulent change of land use (CLU) approvals.

He alleged that associates of Aman Arora skimmed nearly Rs 170 crore through undervaluation of 30 acres of land in Suntec City, Mohali, project, while Sanjeev Arora's firm Hampton Sky Realty misused nearly 40 acres acquitted for industrial purposes in Ludhiana to develop residential colonies.

“If the government was truly ‘kattar imandar’, it would have acted against this corruption itself rather than defending those involved,” Jakhar said, adding that the time for “sabka hisaab” had arrived.

Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu termed Kejriwal a “second Ahmad Shah Abdali” who had come to Punjab only to loot, and called Mann the state’s weakest CM. He alleged that from property registrations to routine government work, institutionalised corruption and middlemen had taken hold under the AAP. Bittu said the BJP was committed to resolving Punjab’s pending issues, including the Chandigarh matter, river waters, BBMB and the release of Sikh prisoners.

BJP working state president Ashwani Sharma demanded a public apology from Mann for what he described as derogatory remarks against Savarkar and other national icons, alleging that the CM had made the remarks to divert attention from his ministers’ corruption cases.

“Every child in Punjab knows that whenever an AAP minister is caught by the ED, the AAP leadership starts distorting history to mislead the public,” Sharma said. “Our martyrs laid down their lives for the pride of India, not to shield corruption under the false drama of kattar imaandari.” State BJP media head Vineet Joshi was also present at the press conference.