The chief of the Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sunil Jakhar, takes a dig at the state’s AAP-run government for Saturday’s Vigilance Bureau raid on the premises of Ranjit Singh Gill, a realtor who joined the BJP on Friday.
The BJP leader went on to accuse the administration of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of engaging in arm-twisting, adding that there is no place for such politics. Punjab BJP chief made the accusations while addressing a press conference on Sunday. The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Saturday raided Gill’s residence in Chandigarh, his office in Kharar, and another location.
“The AAP government seeks to send a message that whoever goes against the wishes of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, the Vigilance Bureau will carry out raids against them. Why is it (AAP) doing this? Is it not against democracy? Earlier, he (Gill) was with the Akali Dal. Did the AAP government not see anything there? As soon as he joins another party, the very next morning they conduct a raid," the BJP leader stated.
"They are acting like a political gang. But arm twisting politics does not work in Punjab," he said.
VB spokesperson on Saturday said the searches were conducted at three premises linked to Gillco Developers, a real-estate firm promoted by Gill, in which details of “suspicious” financial transactions running into crores between Gillco and entities linked to Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia were uncovered.
Gill, a new joinee in the BJP, called the raids a “political vendetta”. Several BJP leaders, including Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, strongly condemned the vigilance action against Gill, accusing the AAP government of indulging in "vendetta politics”.
Hitting out at the AAP government, Jakhar said it (AAP) talks about ending gangsterism, but far from tackling that, the party itself is acting like a gang.
Jakhar also alleged that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has given his government "on contract to his political masters in Delhi led by Arvind Kejriwal".
Stating that the AAP government’s land pooling policy is already facing widespread resentment from the farmers, Jakhar said the vigilance action against Gill is an attempt to politically browbeat the realtor, as Gillco Developers is the biggest landholder in Mohali.
"This dispensation is not working like a government. They should get themselves registered like a company because they are not functioning like a government," Jakhar said.
Replying to CM Mann’s "you reap as you sow" comment on the vigilance raid, the BJP leader said, "I want to tell him that what he too will have to reap what he is sowing today. Those to whom Mann has given his government on contract will not be seen. So, he had better discharge his duty like a chief minister. The government has notified 65,000 acres under land pooling, and now the chief minister is saying that he will talk to the farmers.”
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