Corruption, poor law & order marred AAP govt’s 3 yrs: Opposition

The Opposition on Sunday alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party rule was mired by corruption, with the Congress saying its only success had been the “rehabilitation” of Delhi political leaders while the state’s debt burden ballooned with no possibility of abating in near future.

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The BJP too slammed the ruling party for “poor” law and order and the prevalent drug menace, against which the state government recently launched a crackdown with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann setting a three-month deadline to eliminate the problem.

The criticism came as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government completed three years in the state on Sunday.

The state’s debt has been consistently rising for the past several years. The AAP government has nearly exhausted its total borrowing limit of Rs 38,830 crore for the current fiscal till February 28. The state currently has an outstanding debt of around Rs 3.75 lakh crore.

The Mann-led government has also launched a crusade against corruption, affecting large-scale transfers and dismissal of dozens of police personnel.

The moves came apparently to improve the party’s image among voters ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly poll after AAP lost power in Delhi recently.

A controversy had also erupted after AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora was declared party candidate in the upcoming Ludhiana (West) Assembly bypoll, a move being seen as an attempt to send AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal to the Upper House of Parliament from Punjab. Earlier, Bibhav Kumar, a former OSD to Kejriwal when he was the Delhi CM, was appointed an adviser to Mann.

Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said the state’s economy, law and order and health care took a hit under AAP.

“Be it the economy, law and order, the health sector, employment, investment, or the drug menace, the AAP government has failed everywhere,” he said.

Warring alleged that the only success the AAP government could claim was the “rehabilitation of outsiders in Punjab”.

Bholath Congress legislator Sukhpal Khaira said AAP faltered on its pre-poll promises with rampant illegal mining causing losses to the state exchequer.

During the 2022 Assembly poll, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) promised to prevent an alleged loss of Rs 20,000 crore to the state from illegal mining operations.

“As the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government completes three years, the state faces mounting debt, an unchecked drug menace, rampant illegal mining, and the collapse of law and order,” Khaira said.

Kejriwal’s statement admission of failure: BJP

Punjab BJP general secretary Anil Sareen said AAP failed to end the drug menace and corruption.

He said Kejriwal’s statement terming the drug menace and corruption as the biggest issues was a confession of the party’s utter failure to stem the problems.

He said since November last year, the state had seen over a dozen grenade blasts.

“Be it law and order, unemployment or the promise of giving women a stipend of Rs 1,000, AAP has failed on all fronts,” the BJP leader said.