CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Punjab affairs co-in-charge Raghav Chadha, on the arrest of the Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew, said that his nephew himself had admitted that the money seized during the raids was related to sand mafia and transfer-posting. Addressing the media during a press conference held at the party headquarters on Friday, Chadha alleged that the VIP security provided to Channi’s nephew is a proof of the close proximity between the two. “If Channi wasn’t close to his nephew, why was he (Honey) provided with the VIP security?” he asked.
Chadha said that Chief Minister Channi had sworn on the Darbar Sahib and had claimed that no member of his family had anything to do with the sand mafia. “But the statements given by Channi’s nephew to ED have proved that Channi and his family are not only in cahoots with sand mafia, but in many other illegal businesses as well. Channi has insulted the Darbar Sahib by taking a false oath. The people of Punjab will never forgive him,” he said.
Citing the income tax return of Channi’s nephew, Chadha said that from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020, the annual turnover of his nephew was only Rs 18,77,000. But after Channi became the CM, suddenly within a few days, there were crores of rupees in cash and property papers woth billions to his name. The AAP leader asked Channi that if he earned crores of rupees from sand mafia, then how much did he collect from transfer-posting? How much money has the CM earned in 111 days and from which businesses?
“Even if we assume that the ED raids at the house of Channi’s relative were politically influenced, what about the source of Rs 10 crore cash, luxury vehicles, land property worth billions of rupees?” Chadha asked. He added that if in 111 days, Channi and his relatives earned crores of rupees, how much wealth would they have accumulated had he been the CM for five years. Chadha warned that after the formation of the AAP government in Punjab, action will be taken against all the culprits who are hand in glove with the sand mafia.
On the Congress’s complaint to EC against him, Chadha said that if the FIR is to be lodged then the Congress high command and Sunil Jakhar should be named in it, because Jakhar himself is saying that even after getting the support of 42 MLAs, the Congress did not appoint him the CM because he is Hindus. He alleged that it is the nature of Congress to do divisive politics in the name of religion. “Congress has been following the policy of divide and rule since the beginning. AAP has always adhered to the policy of taking everyone along,” he declared.
“Many political parties tried to divide Punjab in the name of religion. The people of Punjab love peace and want to live happily. We will never allow Congress’s plans of dividing Punjab to succeed. All the parties seeking votes in the name of religion and caste in the state will taste defeat. People will make AAP win by pressing the button of ‘jharoo’ – our symbol,” he concluded.