On Tuesday (25th February), an uproar erupted in the Punjab state assembly after Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa accused Power Minister Harbhajan Singh of asking senior officials in the power corporation across the state to collect funds for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ahead of the Delhi elections. The Leader of Opposition (LoP) demanded an investigation into the matter by a House Committee or a Judicial Commission.
Dismissing the Congress leader’s allegations as “baseless,” AAP minister Harbhajan Singh raised questions over alleged scams that occurred in the Congress government when Bajwa was PWD Minister.
The two had a heated exchange in the state assembly and speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan had to intervene.
During the Zero Hour, Bajwa claimed that the PSEB Engineers Association had written to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann claiming that a power official in Hoshiarpur had been asked to collect cash for party funds for AAP. The Association, as per Bajwa, alleged that this money was to be used in Delhi state assembly elections.
The Congress leader alleged that this money was demanded from circle offices of the PSPCL at the behest of the power minister Harbhajan Singh. Partap Singh Bajwa also alleged corruption in the Revenue Department by Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars. Bajwa showed a letter by the Chief Director of the Vigilance Bureau to the previous Chief Secretary of the state regarding the corrupt practices of these people.
