The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday hit out at Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia for his allegations about Rakesh Chaudhary and said that Majithia has failed miserably in his attempt to defame honest Punjab government by presenting bogus documents and cheap jokes in the press conference.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, AAP Punjab chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said that sand mafia started with the SAD government in 2007. They patronised the sand mafia and gave them monopoly in Punjab, which established Gunda Parchi and Transport Mafia.
He said that those brought menace like sand mafia to the Punjab system and looted people of Punjab, are now questioning the mafia.Presenting documents related to the Rakesh Chaudhary case to the media, Kang said that the Congress government had signed a three-year contract with Rakesh Chaudhary in 2019.
After this, many contractors were granted additional period by the court due to Covid-19. Rakesh Chaudhary's contract was till March 2023. Kang said that he became a defaulter by violation but the Congress government did not take any action against him.
The AAP government was formed in March 2022, but the new government is legally bound to continue with the agreements and contracts made before the end of the financial year. But still, in view of the irregularities committed by Rakesh Chaudhary, the Mann government terminated his contract on 24 August 2022.
The government challenged this decision in the High Court and the court ordered the state government on September 28 2022 to issue him a month's notice. Then the Mann Government issued a notice to Rakesh Chaudhary on the same day.
Rakesh Chaudhary was also fined Rs 12 crore by the district court for violation, which he had not deposited since 2021. Due to the strict stand of the Mann government, he agreed to deposit Rs 6 crore within a month before the court on October 28 2022. The government has now also deposited an advance of about Rs 2.5 crore from him.
Kang said the sand mafia was a patronised during the Akali-BJP government and contracts were given to people like Rakesh Chaudhary by the Congress. These two parties together looted the people of Punjab.
As soon as Mann government came to power, it lodged an FIR against Rakesh Chaudhary and arrested him. The court granted bail to him. The people of Punjab know who is looting Punjab and who is working in their interest, Kang added.
Kang further said that in fact, with the opening of new government mines, the looting of private commercial mines has stopped and they were forced to reduce the sand rates. As soon as the system became transparent, gangsterism and transport mafia also ended.
This is why Bikram Majithia is baffled and levelling baseless allegations against the government.Responding to Majithia's personal remarks on Kang, he said, "Akali Dal along with BJP passed the anti-farmer black farm bill, in the same protest I kicked that party. I have always stood for Punjab. "
He advised Bikram Majithia to stay away from lying and cheap politics and said that Mann government is a government of Punjab and people and it is working for the welfare of common people. That is why he left BJP and joined AAP.