Congress questions Akali Dal over funding from realty companies

5 Dariya News

Chandigarh (IANS) 25-Dec-2013

The Congress Wednesday asked Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal to come clean on recent revelations that the latter had accepted "huge funds" from real estate companies.In a statement issued here, four senior Congress legislators alleged that the real estate companies which had funded the Akali Dal had got their projects approved from Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government in the recent past.Legislators Balbir Singh Sidhu, Jagmohan Singh Kang, Amrik Singh Dhillon and Randeep Singh Nabha said that the Akali Dal had submitted the list of donors to the Election Commission of India which shows that private builders had funded it."It is surprising that the companies named in the list were those who have got favours from the state government," said the statement.

"The name of a Mumbai-based detective agency, Trig Detectives Private Limited, run by a resident of Punjab has also figured. The detective agency had donated Rs.50 lakhs to the Akali Dal," the Congress leaders said, seeking a probe into the funding of a political party by a detective agency.The Congress also sought an independent enquiry into the real estate projects sanctioned by the Akali Dal-BJP government."It is not possible that these companies would have donated voluntarily to the ruling party. There are eight real estate big wigs had their projects in and around Mohali alone. The Congress has serious objection to forced collection of funds from companies which are setting up projects in Punjab."Companies want to make investment in Punjab are allowed to set up projects only if they agree to oblige the ruling family. This is one of the major reasons that private companies were not coming to Punjab," the leaders alleged.