CHANDIGARH, August 25: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh today condemned the dirty tricks resorted to by Aam Aadmi Party leaders from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana against the son of the soil Sucha Singh Chhotepur, who nourished and nurtured the party right from the day of its conception in Punjab.
“The sting operation has clearly been conceived, planned and executed as part of an internal coup engineered by the AAP leaders from outside who want to control Punjab through remote by using their local stooges and inconsequential wannabe leaders”, he said while referring to the so called sting operation against Chhotepur.
He suggested to Kejriwal to also look into the monumental transformation in the lifestyle of leaders like Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak since they started their political career in Punjab.
In a statement issued here today, Capt Amarinder while strongly defending Mr Chhotepur saying he knew him for last 35 years, asked the AAP to explain the massive expenditure running into hundreds of crores of rupees it incurred during last two years in Punjab.
Referring to the AAP move to oust Chhotepur, he said, “it is a blatantly shameless attempt by people like Arvind Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh, Durgesh Pathak and Ashish Khetan to control the party from Delhi, UP and Haryana”.
“I may have strong political differences with Mr Chhotepur, but I also acknowledge and admire his qualities of honesty and integrity and will not like to keep quiet when he is being made a victim of an internal coup and intrigue”, he said, while adding, “it is disgustingly unfair that when you don’t like a man, you start tarnishing and targeting his unblemished image”.
The PCC president said, the Kejriwal has a history and character of using and throwing away people. “He did it with his mentor Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi, Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan and Chhotepur is only the next and not the last in line”, he said, while adding, he must already have prepared a list of people whom he will throw away in due course of time, the moment they start raising their voice.
Asserting that Kejriwal wants to act as a remote control, Capt Amarinder said, he was trying to weed out all the leaders whom he thinks can question and challenge his intentions and authority. Earlier he did same with two MPs Dharamvir Gandhi and Harinder Khalsa and now he is doing it with Chhotepur.
The former Chief Minister asked the AAP to explain the massive expenditure it has incurred during the last two years in Punjab which runs into hundreds of crores of rupees. “Before trying to take a high moral ground, will you please tell us where from did this money come?” he asked Kejriwal.
Capt Amarinder also questioned the humongous transformation in the lifestyle of the AAP leaders like Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak from ordinary people travelling in ordinary cars to super-rich luxury vehicles. “The AAP leaders’ lifestyle transformation has become legendry and exemplary in Punjab and people wonder as how was it possible that when AAP leaders like Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak started their career in Punjab, they were all crammed in a single small car and now each one of them has a few luxury SUVs at their disposal”, he pointed out, while remarking, “what a phenomenal progress indeed!”