Punjabiyat ignored: Congress on AAP Rajya Sabha nominations

Chandigarh, March 21

The Congress on Monday targeted the AAP for falsely talking about Punjab and Punjabiyat, going by the non-Punjabis among those who have been nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

The party leaders said it was betrayal of Punjab mandate.

As AAP nominees Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Sanjeev Arora and Ashok Mittal filed their nominations to the Rajya Sabha at Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Congress MLA Sukhjinder Randhawa alleged the AAP had set a new trend of sending “outsiders” from Punjab to the Upper House.

Targeting Chadha and Pathak, Randhawa said party affairs in charge and strategist were never sent to Rajya Sabha.

“People voted for the AAP seeking change. See the change they have brought by sending non-Punjabis to the RS. By bringing in outsiders, the government has questioned the ability of Punjab and Punjabis. Only Punjabi can understand the pain of Punjab, not outsiders,” he said.

Questioning the nomination of Arora, an industrialist, and Ashok Mittal, an educationist, Gidderbaha MLA Amrinder Raja Warring said there were many who were doing genuine social work and running NGOs. People like Balbir Singh Seechewal and those running the Pingalwara should have been nominated. He also questioned the rationale behind sending celebrities to the Rajya Sabha as they were seldom involved in debates.

Bholath MLA Sukhpal Khaira said instead of sending non-Punjabis to the RS, CM Bhagwant Mann should have honoured his commitment to nominate Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra, a victim of police brutality and champion of human rights in Punjab. “It is the first step of discrimination against Punjab,” he said.

Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Pargat Singh said the RS was the forum where the interest of the states were raised. “AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal has shown his true face by nominating those who have no history of standing up for Punjab. A couple of them even do not belong to Punjab. This is a betrayal of Punjab’s mandate.”