Ravi Dhaliwal
Gurdaspur, July 23
Throwing democratic norms to the winds, AAP let its halqa in-charges, a euphemism for ‘caretakers’ of the very assembly seats they had lost just months ago, attend an official meeting convened by Cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal.
The minister was in town to hold a meeting to review developmental works in Gurdaspur and Pathankot.
People never wanted this ‘Badlav’
This was not the ‘badlav’ (change) wanted by the people. CM Bhagwant Mann and his Delhi-based masters are making a mockery of all democratic norms. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, former Deputy Chief Minister
The two AAP MLAs — Amansher Singh Kalsi (Batala) and Amarpal Singh (Sri-Hargobindpur) — were also present. However, their presence went virtually unnoticed while three ‘caretakers’ — Jagrup Singh Sekhwan (Qadian), Raman Bahl (Gurdaspur) and Shamsher Singh (Dinanagar) — remained present throughout the deliberations.
An angry Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, former deputy CM and MLA of Dera Baba Nanak, sarcastically said: “This was not the ‘badlav’ (change) wanted by the people. CM Bhagwant Mann and his Delhi-based masters are making a mockery of all democratic norms.”
The ‘caretakers’ also raised queries to officials and questioned them on why some projects were in a limbo despite the fact that funds were made available a long time ago.
This district has seven seats, out of which the Congress legislators represent five seats while the remaining are held by AAP MLAs. In all the five seats, where Congress MLAs reign supreme, the AAP, in order to neutralise their influence, have appointed their own “MLAs in the form of halqa in-charges”.
Former minister Aruna Choudhury, who is the sitting legislator from Dinanagar, has been crying hoarse since long that Shamsher Singh, who holds no official position, regularly presides over official meetings pertaining to works being carried out in her constituency.
Likewise, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, too, has repeatedly asked the powers-that-be in Chandigarh as to how Sekhwan holds official meetings. Choudhury had also taken up the issue in the last session of the Vidhan Sabha. However, not much weight was given to her complaint.
So much so, Shamsher has prepared an official stamp. Officials have been asked by senior AAP leaders to follow in letter and in spirit the directions given by Shamsher in letters addressed to them bearing that rubber stamp.
Bahl took up the matter of bringing back the Civil Hospital, which had been shifted 5 km out of the city to its original location in the heart of the city.
In the run up to the polls, the AAP had ruled out bringing in the halqa in-charge system if voted to power. In what appears to be a turnaround, instructions were given from senior party leaders to the DCs and SSPs to listen to the grievances of the candidates who lost.
Halqa in-charges attend minister’s meeting
{$excerpt:n}
