GANDHI JUSTIFIES SATBIR ACTIONS IN PUNJAB, GREWAL QUESTIONS HIS WISDOM
CASH STING Panel to probe complaints against him, no new Punjab chief yet
Edit: AAP on trial
The PAC met in New Delhi a few hours after an emotionally charged Chhotepur addressed the media in Chandigarh, ignoring pleas by Sanjay Singh, AAP’s Punjab political affairs in-charge, not to do so. He was accompanied by a large number of supporters. Among them were disgruntled ticket aspirants, who threatened to launch a party.
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With MP Bhagwant Mann, PAC member, claiming “zero tolerance” for corruption earlier in the day, it was expected that Chhotepur would be expelled. But he was given a breather.
https://youtu.be/7ujCy2HWwd8A section of leaders from Punjab stoutly defended him and the party seemed headed for a split into two camps — one led by Punjab leaders and the other by the leadership in Delhi. At this point, the PAC members decided to step back. Senior leaders HS Phoolka, Kanwar Sandhu and Sukhpal Khaira played mediators and defused the situation.
https://youtu.be/Cw1K-zDtDs4In Chandigarh, Chhotepur accused party leaders Durgesh Pathak and Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia of hatching a conspiring against him but desisted from making any allegation against Kejriwal.
He dared anyone to give evidence he had taken money for himself. “I will quit politics if proved I have indulged in any kind of corruption during my 40 years of public life, from a sarpanch to state minister," he said, while insinuating that the Delhi coterie was anti-Sikh.
On the sting operation, Chhotepur said, “Ï dare them (AAP leadership) to make the video public. I am willing to face a probe. I am a victim of a conspiracy hatched by the Delhi coterie, especially Durgesh Pathak, the party's national organisation head. Pathak and Kejriwal wanted me to take the blame for carrying the Golden Temple picture alongside that of a broom (party symbol) in the party manifesto. I refused to do so and earned their displeasure." He said he had been accepting money from volunteers for the past more than two years as party fund. “For over two years, the party has not given us funds. How else was I expected to run the party except through volunteers’ money," he said.
Chhotepur has accepted receiving money and not issuing a receipt. This violated AAP’s cardinal rule of fund collection that purports to set it apart from its competitors. AAP may have had no option but to set an example before word got out about a similar culture taking root in the party. Already one of its activists has made a similar charge against its core committee member Sanjay Singh. It was also time to redirect the narrative at a time when MP Dharamvir Gandhi decided to back non-AAP candidates, the hedging of bets by Navjot Singh Sidhu and former Olympian Pargat Singh keeping up the suspense about their joining the party.
AAP will also be tested on former CM Amarinder Singh's charge that the party’s Delhi leaders are calling the shots, although he simself was made Punjab Congress president ona directive from the High Command in the national capital. If the past is any indicator, the previous expulsion of heavyweights did not dent AAP’s performance. Punjab is not cosmopolitan like Delhi but has a strong identity of its own, besides a layered societal set-up. The Punjab polls will be a do-or-die battle for all three formations in the fray. The challenge before AAP will be to beat battle-hardened veterans with a team bereft of weathered politicians. Chhotepur’s removal may or may not be a conspiracy but it will send a salutory signal to AAP’s rank and file.
Gurmail Singh, who was in the 1980 hockey team that brought home a gold medal from Olympics, a silver medal in the 1982 Asian Games and a bronze medal in the 1982 Champions Trophy, was posted as Commandant of the 80th Battalion of the Punjab Armed Police, Jalandhar.
She laments, “While the country has been regretting having missed gold again in the Olympics, here is a case where they are treating a medal winner so shoddily. The appointment in the police came on SI rank and there was no job benefit that came despite playing for the Punjab Police from 1978 to 1993 and giving coaching for six years.”
“Had I joined SAD, this would have never happened,” says Rajbir at her Khusropur village house near Jalandhar Cantonment.
Rajbir says, “My husband is was awarded Dhyan Chand Trophy in 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. He was given a two-year extension after 58 years till December 31, 2017, and he still had 17 months of service. But they removed him citing a case against him in the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding an inquiry that he was assigned in a murder case in December 2010.”
Gurmail says, “I was then serving as SP (D) at Moga. I was asked to hold an inquiry into a murder case. I tried my best but could not find any witness or evidence and proposed that the case be withdrawn. Then IG, ADGP and DGP endorsed my inquiry. But the case went to the High Court, which ordered a CBI probe. On CBI’s recommendations, a case was made against me on the charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery and disappearance of facts.”
He said, “The department has cited this case to forcibly relieve me. But, I can name at least half a dozen police officials, who have cases of heinous crime against them including murder, but are still working on extension. I have been made a scapegoat. My seniors could have even got a re-inquiry done in the case if they were not satisfied with my report.”
ADGP, PAP, Sanjeev Kalra said, “The decision against the SP has been taken at the government level. He had to be relieved because of charges against him.”
Addressing a Kisan Chetna rally, he said, “When he (Kejriwal) was an income tax officer, he ran an NGO which received funds from abroad, particularly the US. I have been told by reliable sources that the CIA used to fund the NGO. The PM should order an inquiry into Kejriwal’s background.”
Praising his old friend (Chhotepur), he said, “He is 100 per cent honest, a man of unimpeachable integrity and character. I know him for the past 36 years and am really fond of him. The Uttar Pradesh men who are pulling the strings in AAP have conspired to defame Chhotepur.”
He told the gathering that Chhotepur had wept like a child when Akali leader Harchand Singh Longowal was assassinated. “He is an emotional man. He was very close to Longowal, who himself was an honest politician,” Amarinder added.
The rally was organised under the leadership of Partap Singh Bajwa, Rajya Sabha MP and chairman of the PPCC committee on farmers’ issues. Capt said if the party came to power, he would ensure that the farmers’ loans were waived and their land was not taken away.
“We owe it to you as you have done your due and now it is our responsibility to bail you out,” he told the farmers.
He said the Centre must come forward to help the hard-working Punjabis who were feeding the nation. He reminded the gathering that in 2008, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had undertaken a similar initiative and waived farmers’ debts.
Targeting the Badal government, he said, “The industry has disappeared from the state’s map, while the agriculture sector is floundering as the farmers have to cope with very high prices of inputs. Under the ‘leadership’ of Parkash Singh Badal, Punjab takes one step forward and two steps backward.”
Capt reiterated that once back in power, he would bring the father-son duo to book for their acts of omission and commission.
During the Invest Punjab Summit organised by the state government in October 2015, Sukhbir had announced that purchase tax, value-added tax and CST (central sales tax) would not be imposed on inputs for the food processing sector. It was also announced that when the Goods and Services Tax (GST) would be rolled out, the state would forego its share (15 per cent) of the tax to this sector. The Cabinet is yet to ratify the announcements and subsequently issue a notification.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who heads the Union Food Processing Ministry, has been promoting Punjab as an investment destination in the sector.
Official sources said the Kairon-headed Food Processing Department failed to bring the agenda for the concessions before the Council of Ministers, forcing the Investment Promotion Department to do so at the August 10 Cabinet meeting.
Sources told The Tribune that when the matter came up for discussion, there were talks between Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir and Kairon, following which the agenda was withdrawn. It was stated that the agenda would be brought before the Cabinet by the Food Processing Department at the next meeting, scheduled for mid-September.
From: Vinod Gandhi <vk_gandhi@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2016 2:55:19 PM
To: surinder pal; colonelrajan44@gmail.com; sg9kere@live.com; ajbjaini@gmail.com; rameshkarnik@hotmail.com; genrenjen@yahoo.co.in; faujimagazine@gmail.com; militaryveterans@yahoogroups.com; triservices@yahoogroups.com; veteransindia@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Fauji Janta Party
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2016 2:55:19 PM
To: surinder pal; colonelrajan44@gmail.com; sg9kere@live.com; ajbjaini@gmail.com; rameshkarnik@hotmail.com; genrenjen@yahoo.co.in; faujimagazine@gmail.com; militaryveterans@yahoogroups.com; triservices@yahoogroups.com; veteransindia@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Fauji Janta Party
Dear Gen Grewal
This is quite simple. Gen Satbir is Chairman of IESM and vice President
of UFESM JM. Fouji Janta Party has been registered by ESM who had actively
participated in OROP struggle. The organisers of FJP have requested to Gen
Satbir to unite ESM in Punjab, UK and UP and then in all India. Who does not
know that ESM vote is fractured in India and that is the reason of our poor
state in this country. Gen Satbir has decided to unite this large vote bank. He
can seriously do this without joining any party and remaining neutral. He will
however guide the FJP in uniting the ESM vote and help them in selecting
good candidates who will be genuinely interested in welfare of ESM.
Regards
Gp Capt VK Gandhi VSM
Gen Sec IESM
Gen Sec IESM
GREWAL REPLY
Dear Gp Capt Gandhi,
Be
truthful to yourself. Is Gen Satbir Chairman of IESM(which is apolitical
organisation)? If so, how is he negotiating
for seats with Cong party. Is he using funds collected for OROP agitation for
political rallies, meetings and election purposes?
Will some body answer other questions raised by me.
Are only gunners good at selecting good candidates who are genuinely
interested in welfare of ESM and others are not?
If the aim is to unite, then why discard ESM P? Has he talked to other
ESM organisations?
What happened to your slogan of no vote for Cong if no OROP? Why not, no
vote for BJP, if diluted OROP.
Maj Gen SPS Grewal
Indian Defence Veteran
QUESTIONS STILL TO BE ANSWERED BY SATBIR/GANDHI to Clear the Air of misgiving to Veterans of Punjab
1. The formation of Fauji Janta Party was announced by Satbir on 15 Aug 2016 at ISSRU(near Khanna) and election committee after the name was announced.
2. Who are the core members of FJP in the Application for Registration.
3. What address of the office has been given in the Application .Is it again Satbir residential address as usual.
4. Has the party been registered on All India basis.
5. Can the copy and the date of application be provided and when can the ESM see the light of registered FJP.
6. The split has taken place in the election committee after Cpt CS Sidhu has openly pledged to support Captain Amrinder .
7. Can you define and give out the constituents of UFESM JM as of date.
8. As per ground reality there is no other organisation as part of UFESM JM its only IESM Satbir using the name.
9. Who is the President of UFESM JM if Satbir is the Vice president.
10. When was UFESM JM registered.
11. Satbir did not even bother to speak with other ESM organisation of Punjab what to claim that he wanted to unite ESM of Punjab, can you justify.
12. Satbir chaired rallies in different districts of Punjab why he did not throw invitations to other ESM /ESm organisation/ESM political Parties.Why?
13. who is spending on Lavish arrangements and lunch at rallies with Marriage party menu followed by ICe Creams. It must be the again the misguided JCO's/OR.
14 Why the arrangements of any Rally and the expenditure handed over to Gunners are the others not trustworthy.
15 How come Col Balbir singh conveynor Punjab reaches the rally few days earlier to see the arrangements and ensue VIP treatment is given to satbir like a God father even at rally stations/at rally points.
16 How Col balbir singh only donates amount of expenditure from his pocket after each rally.
17 Why he had to form a new Party when already Political Parties of ESM/Organisations existed in Punjab.
18 . Satbir has yet to declares names of ESM Candidates from Punjab with WIN WIN Probality and yet to survey the popularity of UFESM JM and FJP popularity with civilian populations.
19 why civilian population members of society not been invited to the hidden Political rallies in the garb of OROP rallies.
These are the simple straight forward questions and expect Gandhi and Satbir to answer honestly.
AAP sacks Chhotepur as he trains guns on Kejriwal
CASH STING Panel to probe complaints against him, no new Punjab chief yet
‘OUTSIDERS’ Chhotepur says top AAP leaders have no faith in Punjabis
CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday evening removed its Punjab convener, Sucha Singh Chhotepur, from the post and formed a panel to probe allegations of corruption against him. The decision by the party’s political affairs committee (PAC) in Delhi came over a reported video sting operation that has Chhotepur taking a packet of cash from a man, among other complaints.
The move by the party’s highest- decision-making body came hours after Chhotepur launched a blistering attack on the top AAP leadership for “conspiring” against him. While it did not name his replacement immediately, the PAC chaired by national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal appointed a two-member probe panel of Jarnail Singh, AAP MLA from Rajouri in Delhi who is also co-incharge of its Punjab affairs, and Jasbir Singh Bir, head of the AAP grievances cell in state.
Earlier in the day, Chhotepur, addressing a press conference, demanded that the video be made public and, reiterating that he had done no wrong, said he is ready for a probe even by the CBI.
He went ballistic directly against Kejriwal, alleging that while the party had no faith in Punjabis, he had even been asked to put his Sikhi (religion) “at stake” by Kejriwal.
“When Kejriwal came for service at the Golden Temple to atone for the manifesto cover (on which party symbol ‘broom’ next to Golden Temple had led to a row), he asked me why I had told the media that I didn’t know of the cover until it was released. I told him I had only spoken the truth. He said I should have owned it up as my fault,” Chhotepur said.
“I explained to him that the Akal Takth, the temporal seat of Sikhism, would have declared me tankhaiya (excommunicated me). He replied, ‘Toh kya hua agar aap ko Sikhi se nikaal dete (So what if they throw you out of Sikhism?) I was shocked, Chhotepur added, “How could I quit my religion for which I once gave up a ministerial berth? After that incident, I think, he decided to treat me like this!”Flanked by five of the 13 parliamentary zone coordinators of the party in Punjab, Chhotepur said, “AAP has no faith in Punjabis, and its leaders have no knowledge of Sikh traditions.”
Later, MP Bhagwant Mann rebutted this and said Chhotepur is trying to lend a “communal colour” to the controversy. Mann said, “It is very unfortunate that Chhotepur is resorting to such cheap gimmicks to defend his corrupt act. If he was so perturbed, why didn’t he react and leave the party there and then?”
Chhotepur also said the sting was orchestrated by his partymen, though “other AAP leaders have gathered lakhs in cash from NRIs”. Have they ever given receipts, he asked. “Let the CBI probe each of us. I don’t have to name the AAP leaders whose lifestyle has changed drastically ever since they came to Punjab. It is visible and well-known,” he later told journalists.
He accused national organisation-building in-charge Durgesh Pathak of forcing him to come out in public against his own party. “Pathak is in complete control. He hands out tickets and handles the funds... He walked out of a meeting in October 2015 and started feeding the media against me. Pathak divided the party.” He said he had started raising his voice “only when people who had toiled for the party were ignored in the distribution of tickets”. “For me the party volunteer is supreme, but has been let down.” He added that his next course of action would be guided by the volunteers.
Hours after the press conference, Mann, who attended the PAC meeting as special invitee, announced Chhotepur’s removal and termed allegations against Kejriwal “unfortunate”. The PAC examined the reported video clip and also took cognisance of other complaints filed against Chhotepur, said a party release. “Some NRIs and an Amritsar-based leader complained that Chhotepur had taken money from them promising to smoothen their joining the party as well the ticket for the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha polls,” said Mann.
The PAC decided not to appoint a new convener until the probe panel has submitted a final report about the “various video and audio clips”.
Chhotepur’s exit spells bigger trouble for AAP
COLLATERAL DAMAGE Exposes Punjab versus outsider debate faultline, gives ammunition to opponents; a party on a roll till two months ago loses momentum
From page 01 CHANDIGARH: Till two months ago, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was on a roll and widely seen as an alternative to the Congress and the Akali-BJP combine in Punjab. Party chief Arvind Kejriwal gave the AAP a headstart by sounding the poll bugle at the Maghi Mela in January. But a series of missteps, for which the AAP has itself to blame, has put a spanner in its poll momentum.
The latest setback has come in an unceremonious removal of Punjab convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, who found himself trapped by a clandestine sting operation in which he is seen taking a cash packet with the party’s authority to accept donations. BAD TIMING
The Chhotepur episode couldn’t have come at a worse time for the rookie party that has lately been rocked by the youth manifesto fiasco and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann’s Lok Sabha security video row. As if these miseries were not embarrassing enough, the AAP’s much-anticipated gambit to rope in firebrand Navjot Singh Sidhu, who resigned as BJP’s Rajya Sabha member last month, has almost come unstuck.
Given the top AAP leaders’ tough stand and Chhotepur’s blistering attack on Arvind Kejriwal, his expulsion is a mere formality. But the bitter face-off is sure to inflict a collateral damage on the party five months before Punjab goes to the polls.
Chhotepur’s next political destination is still uncertain. But, what is clear is that the maverick politician will not only walk away with his band of AAP followers, he will ambush the party more viciously than its chief political rivals – Congress, Akalis and BJP.
For once, the action against Chhotepur has exposed the Punjabi versus outsiders faultline dogging the AAP. It has lent credence to a deepening perception - aggressively amplified by the opposition – that all levers of Punjab AAP are controlled by its leaders from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.Now, an embattled Chhotepur has gone hammer and tongs, dubbing his removal as a defame-and-dump conspiracy against the Punjabi AAP leaders – an issue that may potentially dent Kejriwal’s poll sweepstakes. LOSING SIKH FACE
A prominent Sikh face of the AAP in Punjab, Chhotepur has been active in state politics for three decades. Despite his limited political appeal and support base, he was in the first crop of Punjab leaders to jump onto the AAP bandwagon before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. With an Akali background, Chhotepur stood out in the AAP that has a dearth of local faces who really matter.
By axing Chhotepur, the AAP would try and take a high moral ground, pitching itself as a party with zero-tolerance to corruption. That, however, wouldn’t be without the risk of creating another splinter faction. It would add to a burgeoning list of Punjab leaders who have fallen out with AAP. OPPONENTS SMELL AN OPPORTUNITY
The latest bout of bad blood comes at a time when AAP’s strategy to be first off the block by declaring 32 of the 117 candidates for the 2017 Punjab elections has been marred by rumblings of dissent among its supporters. A set of volunteers from Majha have broken away to form the AAP Volunteers Federation and joined hands with a front-in-the-making under suspended Patiala AAP MP Dharamvira Gandhi. Such convulsions hardly bode well for a party which derives its core strength from volunteers.
The string of controversies in the AAP has dimmed its sheen while lending its opponents enough ammunition. An escalating war of words in the AAP is music to the ears of its rivals. Both the Akalis and the Congress, who see the Kejriwal outfit as their common foe, will do all that it takes to exploit the AAP selfinflicted stumbles.
LIST OF PROMINENT AAP FALL-OUTS IN STATE
The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) removal of Sucha Singh Chhotepur from the post of Punjab unit convener comes as the latest in a series of actions taken against leaders by the rookie outfit. Here are some of those in Punjab who have fallen out with the AAP ever since it made a mark in Punjab by winning all four of the party’s Lok Sabha seats from here:
Who: Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, MP from Patiala
Why: Currently suspended from the party, he was amongst the first rebels along with Yogendra Yadav to raise a voice of dissent over the allegedly autocratic manner of functioning. In May 2015, AAP’s national council meeting in Delhi came as a turning point as he was pushed out of the venue along with Yadav and others. He was formally suspended in August that year.
What now: A regular critic of the party, he has not resigned from the party nor has he been expelled as that will mean the party losing a LS seat. He recently floated a new political front in Punjab, calling for AAP’s rebels and other “alternative” forces in Punjab to unite and fight the assembly polls. He has not formally launched a party, though.
Who: Harinder Singh Khalsa, MP from Fatehgarh Sahib
Why: Khalsa, like Dr Gandhi, accused the AAP’s Delhi leadership of a dictatorial attitude. He organised a conference of AAP rebels along with Dr Gandhi at Baba Bakala near Amritsar in August last year, leading to their suspension.
Khalsa, a former diplomat, continues to have the status of AAP MP. He has maintained a distance from the other parties and newer fronts for now.
Who: Hardeep Kingra, was state-level AAP leader
Why: The former civil servant quit the party after the announcement of the first list of candidate earlier this month, questioning the credentials of the people joining the party.
What now: Considered a Chhotepur loyalist and once a contender for AAP ticket, he was at the press conference earlier this week where Dr Dharamvira Gandhi announced a new political front.
Who: Sumail Singh Sidhu, academic-activist, was with Anna Hazare movement and then AAP
Why: He was sidelined by the AAP’s central leadership after dissenting over a particular list of candidates for Punjab in the Lok Sabha polls, in February 2014. He parted ways after the polls. What now: Sumail launched the Punjab Sanjhiwal Morcha and, earlier this year, unsuccessfully contested the Khadoor Sahib assembly bypoll that the AAP did not contest and Congress “boycotted”, and SAD won. He got fewer votes than the NOTA option.
Who: Bhai Baldeep Singh, 2014 Lok Sabha candidate from Khadoor Sahib
Why: The classical singer and scholar, he was seen as a part of the Yogendra Yadav group and was suspended for “antiparty activities” last year. What now: Back in his world of classical music, he actively posts videos on the internet commenting on a range of issues. Earlier this year, he filed his nomination for the Khadoor Sahib assembly bypoll but that was rejected on technical grounds.
Who: Dr Daljit Singh, 2014 LS candidate from Amritsar
Why: The renowned eye specialist and social activist kept a low profile after the LS polls, as he felt disillusioned over the party suspending two MPs (Gandhi and Khalsa). He was a vocal critic of the party’s manner of functioning and thus was removed.
What now: Back full-time into the medical profession, he says he has no more interest in politics.
Capt promises farm loan waiver
CM Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal, ruined farmers, forcing them to resort to suicide. the Badal government’s apathy drove the youth towards drugs. CAPT AMARINDER SINGH, state Congress president
GURDASPUR: Holding the SADBJP regime responsible for the current plight of farmers in the state, Punjab Congress chief Captain. Amarinder Singh promised to waive farmer loans if the Congress is voted to power.
Addressing a ‘Kisan Chetna’ dharna organised here under the leadership of former Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa here on Friday, Amarinder also asked people not to pay exorbitant electricity bills. He said the Punjabis, with 2% population contribute 45% to the national pool of food grains. “But it was unfortunate that the state farmer was burdened under the unbearable weight of debt and some of them were driven to commit suicide leaving bleak future for his family,” he said.Lashing out at chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal, Amarinder alleged they had ruined the farming community, forcing them to resort to suicide. He said the Badal government’s apathy have driven the youth towards drugs.
Referring to the complaint about the exorbitant electricity bills by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, he asked them not to pay these and promised to settle these if Congress forms the government.
Speaking on the alleged false cases slapped by the police at the behest of the Akali leaders on Congress leaders and workers, Amarinder promised to withdrawn all such cases in the first meeting of his cabinet. He declared that the politicians and police officials responsible for registering false cases would face action. CONG TO LAUNCH CAMPAIGN: BAJWA Speaking on the occasion, Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa, said the Congress had decided to launch a campaign to deliver justice to the farmers with the theme: “kisana naal insaf karo, saara karza maaf karo” (do justice to farmers, waive their loans).
In-charge of the party affairs in Punjab Asha Kumari, Punjab election campaign incharge Ambika Soni, MLAs Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Ashwani Sekhri, PPCC vice-president Manpreet Singh Badal, PPCC general secretaries Fateh Jang Singh Bajwa and Salamat Masih, PPCC khet mazdoor cell chairman Inderjeet Singh Zira and others also spoke on the occasion.
Bassi Pathana AAP candidate open to replacement, won’t quit
SANTOKH SINGH SALANA SAYS HARYANA GOVT FIRED HIM AS CANAL PATWARI FOR ABSENCE AS HE WAS BUSY IN BSP MOVEMENT
BASSI PATHANA (FATEHGARH SAHIB): Santokh Singh Salana, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate for this seat in the coming assembly elections, is open for replacement, as he said on Friday, to defend himself after it came out that the Haryana government had dismissed him as canal patwari.
“Being busy in a public movement of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), I could not attend office and so was sacked for this reason,” Salana defended himself at a press conference here. “It is not a criminal offence.” Earlier, he had claimed that he had quit the job. Salana said his party’s political affairs committee (PAC) was looking into the matter and he was ready to accept its decision. “Even if the party replace me,” he said, “I will remain with the party.”Since the AAP released its first list of candidates in early August, some members are upset over ticket to Salana. On August 19, AAP circle in-charge Prahlad Singh Majri, youth incharge Rajdeep Singh Badla, and circle youth in-charge Manpreet Nanowal went over to party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi and he agreed to look into the matter. Supporters of ticket aspirant Manjinder Singh ‘Romi’ said a sacked government employee could not be AAP candidate.
In the February 2007 dismissal letter, the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) water services circle of Ambala reported Salana absent from duty since January 30, 2003, and that he failed to join despite several notices. Salana said he had to give time to Kanshi Ram Bachao Sangharsh Committee “after I heard that BSP leader Mayawati had taken the party founder captive”.
Water-tank scam: Sukhbir OSD ‘gets away’
PANEL MEMBERS REMAIN TIGHTLIPPED OVER REPORT SUBMITTED TO MANSA DEPUTY COMMISSIONER ON WEDNESDAY
MANSA: Harendra Sra, officer on special duty to deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, was given a clean chit on Wednesday, barely 24 hours after HT published a report highlighting how the panel members probing water tank scam feared repercussions if their report held him at fault.
The three-member inquiry committee includes industries and commerce department general manager, besides the executive engineers of public health and panchayati raj departments.
“I have received the report which mentions that water tanks distributed on the first day of sangat darshan meet all specifications and have no quality issues,” said deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma.
The panel members, appointed to probe the purchase of substandard water tanks, had not met even once till Monday. One of the panel members had also confided that they were not provided the specifications of the probe, leaving them clueless.
“I have submitted the report to deputy commissioner and he can better respond about its details,” said executive engineer of public health. 47 water tanks were purchased at a cost of `57 lakh, but the probe panel checked the quality of only 15 water tanks which were distributed to village panchayat by Harsimrat Kaur Badal in July.
Some of the sarpanches said that they were asked to send the water tanks to their respective block development offices, but they could not reach the venue. After drawing a lot of flak over the water tank scam, deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said that the report submitted by the panel will be made public.
WHAT NEXT FOR CHHOTEPUR?
After his removal as AAP’s Punjab convener, Sucha Singh Chhotepur, 65, is just a step short of expulsion from the party that he had joined hoping to resurrect his political career. An original Akali and a baptised Sikh, he was last elected as an independent MLA in 2002, but now finds himself at the crossroads — a turf he is not unfamiliar with in his three-decade political career starting as a village sarpanch.
So far, only Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh has warmed up to him, welcoming the “old friend” to the Congress fold. Amarinder and Chhotepur were Akali ministers in the Surjit Singh Barnala government in the mid-1980s. Both resigned from the cabinet in the aftermath of police entry in the Golden Temple complex in April 1986 when extremists declared ‘Khalistan’ from the Akal Takht. Given his past, though, it is unlikely that Chhotepur will jump onto the Congress bandwagon. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has praised Chhotepur for his anti-Kejriwal rant, but party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal was quick to rule out the possibility of taking him in. Incidentally, the AAP renegade is son-in-law of former Akali Dal president Mohan Singh Tur.
That leaves him with the option of floating a splinter faction of the AAP and aligning himself with the fourth front led by AAP’s suspended leader and Patiala MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, who has lately pitched himself as the pivot of a Punjab-centric conglomerate of breakaway AAP leaders and volunteers. Ideologically, Chhotepur may find himself closer to the Gandhi-led grouping. “His politics hinges on his anti-Akali, anti-Congress credentials. To retain that base, he will have to look at an option beyond those two,” said a close aide of Chhotepur.For now, Chhotepur’s priority is to gather his flock in the AAP. At Friday’s press conference, he was flanked by five of the AAP’s 13 parliamentary zone coordinators, from Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Bathinda and Anandpur Sahib. Also present were sector and circle coordinators from at least 10 districts. He is hoping to emerge as a rallying figure for AAP leaders left disgruntled over ticket allocation.
PUNJAB BJP TO START POLL PLANNING TODAY
CHANDIGARH: Punjab BJP president Vijay Sampla has called a series of Bharatiya Janata Party meetings over the weekend (August 27 and 28) here to discuss strategy for the 2017 assembly elections. Party’s national vice-president and Punjab organisation in-charge Prabhat Jha will attend these meetings. “On Saturday (August 27), the BJP’s state office-bearers, district presidents, general secretaries, and morcha (yuva, mahila, Scheduled Caste, and kisan) presidents from all 117 constituencies will assemble,” state BJP secretary Vineet Joshi said here on Friday. “On Sunday (August 28), legislators and halqa in-charges of 23 seats will sit with Jha and Sampla. Representatives of different civic bodies, corporations, boards, commissions, and improvement trusts will be part of it.
Chhotepur loses Punjab post
AAP says convener will be back if cleared by probe panel
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 26
Amid hectic lobbying and much chest-thumping, the political affairs committee (PAC) of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today removed Sucha Singh Chhotepur as the Punjab unit convener, pending an inquiry by a two- member committee. If found innocent, Chhotepur could be back on the post, a party spokesperson said.AAP on trial
Chhotepur’s sidelining a signal to the restThe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is facing a major test in Punjab after marginalising Sucha Singh Chhotepur, a two-term MLA with half a century of political life behind him. The man from Gurdaspur had become a prominent face in state politics by the sole virtue of being made the state convener of a party that perceives the political wind is in its favour. His post could have made him a contender for the Chief Minister’s chair. But of late things were not hunky dory. Chhotepur, who should have been in the thick of the selection process, expressed his misgivings with the first two lists of candidates.Spouse removed as SP after I joined AAP: Arjuna awardee
Gurmail Singh was part of hockey team that won Olympic gold
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, August 26
Arjuna awardee Rajbir Kaur, who led the Indian hockey team in four Asian Games and who recently joined the Aam Aadmi Party, is distraught. She alleges that because of her new political affiliation, her husband and gold medal-winning hockey Olympian Gurmail Singh has been “forcibly relieved” from his Punjab Police service. Besides, he has been relieved just on a day’s notice by the Department of Home Affairs.Amarinder accuses Kejriwal of CIA links, backs Chhotepur
Promises loan waiver for farmers, says their land won’t be acquired
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, August 26
Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh here today accused AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal of having links with US intelligence agency CIA, even as he backed beleaguered AAP leader Sucha Singh Chhotepur.
Badal family tussle delays relief to food processing industry
Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 26
A tussle between the departments of Investment Promotion and Food Processing, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and his brother-in-law Adaish Partap Singh Kairon, respectively, has held up the grant of concessions to the food processing industry in the state.ITC among top investors
- The state has received investment proposals to the tune of almostRs 8,000 crore since the 2015 summit. Thirty-three mega food projects, with an investment of Rs 2,762 crore, have been approved. Among the major investors in the sector are ITC Ltd, which is setting up an integrated food park in Kapurthala and has decided to double its investment; Sukhjit Starch and Chemicals, which is establishing a mega food park; and Amul India, which is setting up milk processing plants.
SAD: Anti-Sikh stance of Kejri exposed
- Tribune News ServiceChandigarh, August 26The Shiromani Akali Dal today described as shocking the disclosures made by Sucha Singh Chhotepur about Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘anti-Sikh’ remarks, wherein the latter “ridiculed the pain of being excommunicated from the Panth.”In statement issued here, SAD general secretary Harcharan Singh Bains said, “Chhotepur has made public a conversation between him and Kejriwal in which he explained his inability to defend the imprint of ‘jhaadu’ on an image of Harmandar Sahib as this would have led to his being summoned by the Akal Takht and the possibility of being excommunicated. Chhotepur said Kejriwal replied, ‘So what if they had thrown you out of the Panth?’).”He said the disclosures had vindicated the allegations by rebel AAP leaders that the party was being run by “anti-Punjab gangsters from UP.
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