A delegation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Leader of Opposition (LoP), Harpal Singh Cheema, met the Governor of Punjab, V.P. Singh Badnore here on Thursday and sought the sack of Punjab Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu and filling of FIR against the other government top brass involved in the multi-crore Ludhiana land scam.Cheema, in the memorandum submitted to the governor, said that the multi-crore Grand Manor Homes scam, involving Punjab Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu and other big wigs of the government had been hitting the news paper headlines of late.The issue, Cheema further added, had been raised on the floor of the House during the recently-concluded Budget session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha.He said that in the inquiry report, names of Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Congress Atamnagar (Ludhiana) Congress candidate Kamaljit Singh Karwal and three other government top officials had prominently figured in the report. He lamented that no action had been initiated against the accused so for.The delegation, through the memorandum, has demanded that the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh should make public the inquiry report, conducted by the Local Bodies Minister, Navjot Singh Sidhu, a part of which had hit the newspaper headlines, he said.
The report, Cheema claimed, could not be refuted by the minister, who had instead, while answering a media query, asserted that action would be taken against the guilty howsoever high and mighty he/she might be.Cheema said that the government was dilly dallying on initiating any action against those named in the report, which raised valid questions of propriety. “What was the government waiting for even when the audio clips wherein the minister was seen threatening the investigating officers and casting aspersions against the Punjab and Haryana High Court had gone viral?”, Cheema asked.Cheema alleged that the powerful land mafia was enjoying political patronage in the state and was involved in running the nefarious trade without the scantest fear of the law of the land. Expressing his fears, Cheema said that by not showing land mafia the doors potential would endanger lives of the investigating officers and their families.Others who were a part of the delegation, included, besides Harpal Singh Cheema, LoP, Sarvjit Kaur Manuke, Dy LoP, Kultar Singh Sandhwan, Jai Kishan Singh Rori, Kulwant Singh Pandori, Dalbir Singh Dhillon (All MLAs),Dr Balbir Singh, Sukhwinder Pal Singh Sukhi (Member, Core Committee, Navdeep Singh Sangha (In charge organization), Narinder Singh Shergill (Lok Sabha Candidate from Sri Anandpur Sahib), Dr Ravjot Singh (Lok Sabha Candidate from Hoshiarpur), Ms Raj Lalli Gill (President, Women wing), Manjit Singh Sidhu (Member, Core Committee), Baljinder Singh Chonda (General Secy)