New Delhi, May 9 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, saying that the real action against its leaders, in cases of alleged corruption, would be taken by the people of the state in the next year's Assembly polls.
The BJP's response came after extensive search operations were conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Punjab Industry Minister Sanjeev Arora under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002.
Arora was reportedly arrested following the ED raids.
Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha alleged that the AAP has betrayed with the people's mandate in Punjab.
"As much as Rs 21 lakh cash was thrown in a bag from a balcony during the ED raid, and round-tripping of funds were done through companies in the UAE, Canada and Australia," he told reporters.
Chadha also claimed that the AAP government in Punjab has Rs 5 lakh crore debt on itself.
He also said: "Apart from the central probe agencies, the real action against the AAP-led Punjab government will be taken by the people during the next year's Assembly polls."
Likening the AAP's reign in Punjab to that of a prisoner counting his days in prison, Punjab BJP Vice-President Fatehjung Singh Bajwa said: "The people of Punjab are marking each day under AAP's regime. Their (AAP) government is filled with corruption."
Punjab Leader of the Opposition (LoP) and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa said: "I want to ask the Central government that this issue has been going on for the past several years. So why did you wait for four years to act? And now, will this case go into a so-called 'political washing machine'? Will you ever reach a final conclusion?"
The Punjab LoP claimed that around Rs 25 to 30 crore have been siphoned off.
However, AAP MLA Chetan Singh Jouramajra came in defence of Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora
He claimed that since the AAP is doing "good work" in Punjab, that is why the BJP-led Central leadership is unable to "tolerate it".
"They don't want the AAP to return to power again (in Punjab) that is why our leaders are being arrested. It seems as if all the BJP leaders are innocent," Jouramajra said.
The AAP MLA asserted: "Whatever may happen, the AAP leaders will stand firm and not bow down to anyone."
Meanwhile, Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel called Punjab's AAP government and the BJP-led Central government as "two sides of the same coin".
"In Punjab, the Bhagwant Mann government misuses the Vigilance Department and files cases against everyone. Similarly, in Delhi, the government misuses central agencies like the ED, IT department, and CBI," he said.
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