Chandigarh: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s meeting with Punjab Chief Secretary Anirudh Tewari and Power Secretary Dalip Kumar in the national capital Monday triggered a row, with the Opposition criticising the state’s AAP government for allegedly being controlled by party leaders in Delhi.
According to a senior AAP functionary, Kejriwal met Tewari and Kumar, as well as a few senior officials of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, at his residence Monday.
They are believed to have discussed state-related issues, including the Punjab government’s proposed scheme to provide 300 units of free electricity per month to every household in the state — one of the main promises made by the party ahead of this year’s assembly elections.
The party functionary added that Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann was not present at Monday’s meeting, although he met Kejriwal separately Tuesday, to deliberate on the free electricity promise.
In a text message to ThePrint Monday, Tewari admitted that he was in Delhi, but did not share any further details or purpose of the trip. Kumar said over the phone Tuesday that “our only aim is to give best quality governance to the people of Punjab and we will do everything to ensure that”.
Addressing Opposition criticism over the meeting, AAP Punjab spokesperson Malwinder Singh Kang said Tuesday, “Mr Kejriwal is our national convenor. We always take his guidance… If, for some constructive step and betterment of Punjab, an informal meeting was held, then Opposition leaders should not criticise it. They should rather support it.”
‘Worst expected, worst happened’
Taking a potshot at Kejriwal on social media, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring tweeted Monday, “Will Punjab be puppeteered by Delhi people, in what capacity and on which issue was this meeting held (sic).”
Will punjab be puppeteered by Delhi people, in what capacity and on which issue was this meeting held..cm Sahib make it public..
सर तो झुका दिया ही था अब माथा भी टेक दिया है क्या?— Amarinder Singh Raja (@RajaBrar_INC) April 11, 2022
He also alleged that the AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and Delhi’s Health and Power Minister Satyendar Jain were present at the meeting.
ThePrint reached both Chadha and Jain over phone calls and text messages, but there was no response till the time of publishing this report.
The AAP chief’s meeting was also targeted by former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who launched his own party, the Punjab Lok Congress, after quitting the Congress last year and allied with the BJP for the 2022 Punjab assembly elections.
Worst was feared, worst happened. @ArvindKejriwal has taken over Punjab much before it was expected to happen. That @BhagwantMann is a rubber stamp was a foregone conclusion already, now Kejriwal has proved it right by chairing Punjab officers' meeting in Delhi.
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) April 12, 2022
Shiromani Akali Dal’s Daljeet Singh Cheema, who is a former education minister of Punjab, called the meeting an instance of one “state government directly interfering” in matters of another.
We have heard a lot about Delhi as Union Govt interfering into the internal affairs of the States.
But, it is for the first time that we are seeing Delhi, as State Govt directly interfering into the internal affairs of Punjab Govt.
ਕੀ ਸਾਨੂੰ ਇਸੇ ਬਦਲਾਅ ਦੀ ਉਡੀਕ ਸੀ ? pic.twitter.com/6lVNNPtGKg
— Dr Daljit S Cheema (@drcheemasad) April 11, 2022
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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