BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa | File Photo
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
BJP on Monday termed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as the “most corrupt” in the country over the induction of Balbir Singh as a minister in the Punjab government.
Addressing a presser at the BJP’s headquarters in New Delhi, party leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that the AAP used to speak a lot about changing politics in the country, claiming that if voted in, the AAP would not allow anyone with criminal antecedents in its governments. “It has, however, made somebody convicted in a case of assault a minister,” he said.
Mr. Singh, he noted, has been convicted in a case of assault on a woman. The case was filed by his sister-in-law and he is currently on bail. Mr. Balbir Singh was sworn in following the resignation of Fauja Singh Sarari, who had been at the centre of a row for months after an audio leak, linked to corruption, purportedly featuring him appeared. Officially, he cited personal reasons to quit.
Mr. Sirsa noted that Punjab Health Minister Vijay Singla was earlier sacked on corruption charges. “This is the state of affairs in a party which had come to power in Punjab on the promise of ending corruption,” he said.
“The criteria to become a minister in an AAP government is how much money he can collect. While the party made some of them resign but it has not changed its criteria. Mr. Kejriwal is the uncrowned king of Punjab and is running the state via remote control. He has become so greedy to collect money. The ministers in the Delhi government are also doing it,” Mr. Sirsa alleged.
“The AAP has become the most corrupt party in the country,” he charged. He pointed out that Delhi government ministers, including Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia, have also been accused of corruption, adding that some others had to resign earlier.