Chandigarh- Aam Aadmi Party today launched a scathing attack on former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and the Badal family, holding them behind the two-decade-long conspiracy to plunder the state's resources.
Addressing a press conference at party's head office here, Punjab Finance Minister and Senior AAP leader, Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema, said that the leaders rejected by the people of Punjab, including two-time former Congress CM Captain Amarinder Singh, his relative Simranjeet Singh Mann, and former Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, are once again dreaming of returning to power. Cheema asserted that Punjab will no longer tolerate the politics of loot dominated by these two families.
Giving details on how the two families rotated power between 2002 and 2022, systematically enriching themselves and protecting each other from legal action, Cheema revealed that during the 2002-2007 Captain government, cases concerning disproportionate assets worth approximately 4000 crore were filed against the Badal family. However, Captain Amarinder Singh deliberately delayed the prosecution of these cases. When the SAD-BJP government took over in 2007, all cases were immediately quashed and shelved. Cheema said emphatically, "This was no coincidence; it was a deep-rooted, reciprocal agreement between the Badal and Captain families to facilitate mutual protection and looting of the state."
The Finance Minister further pointed out the utter failure of both regimes concerning the sacrilege incidents (Beadbi). He lashed out at the Badal family for allowing the incidents to occur due to their arrogance of power, and he lambasted Captain Amarinder Singh for making a false promise while holding the Gutka Sahib in his hands in 2017. Cheema further added that Captain Amarinder used the Justice Ranjit Singh and Justice Zora Singh Commissions solely for political mileage in Panchayat elections, failing to take any concrete action against the perpetrators.
Attacking Captain Amarinder Singh's political credibility, Cheema dubbed him a "Master of Defection, " highlighting his journey from the Akali Dal to Congress, forming his own party, and ultimately joining the BJP. Cheema reiterated AAP's long-held assertion that during his 2017-2022 term, Captain Amarinder acted more as the Chief Minister for the BJP than for the Congress. Furthermore, Cheema said that Captain Amarinder was beholden to the Central BJP government due to concerns over national security, stemming from his association with a lady from an enemy country, a relationship that was untenable for someone holding a constitutional post.
In sharp contrast, Finance Minister Cheema highlighted the achievements of the current AAP government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. He said that under the AAP regime, the 30 million people of Punjab have found relief from the drug, liquor, and sand mafias that thrived under previous governments. The AAP government has successfully cancelled the expensive power purchase agreements signed by the SAD-BJP, bought back a private power plant, provided 600 units of free electricity to the public, and delivered over 50, 000 government jobs to the youth of Punjab.
Issuing a stern warning while concluding his statement, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said, "These people think that Punjabis have forgotten their deceptive tactics, but they do not realise that Punjabis deliver retribution even after 20 years. The people will never forget how these leaders, though united behind the scenes, ran elaborate conspiracies to mislead the public, how they stripped the state's wealth, and how the sacred Panthic positions were manipulated first by Parkash Singh Badal and then by Sukhbir Singh Badal. The AAP government remains committed to representing the common people and will ensure that the conspiracies of these families never succeed."