Sidhu complicit in corruption in Punjab: AAP

On a day when cricketer-turned- politician Navjot Singh Sidhu said the assets of the Badal family had increased exponentially in the past decade, the AAP on Friday said Sidhu was complicit in the "massive corruption" in Punjab during the period.

In a hard hitting statement issued here, AAP state convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich dubbed Sidhu an "opportunist, self-centered and directionless man who is not better than a rolling stone".

Sidhu parted ways with the Bharatiya Janata Party to join the Congress this week after hobnobbing with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for some time.

"If Sidhu is now targeting the Badals for corruption, it does not absolve him of complicity with the SAD-BJP's corrupt regime for 10 years. His wife was a Chief Parliamentary Secretary in the state government and didn't leave it...," Waraich said.

"...Navjot Singh Sidhu too turned a blind eye by staying away from Punjab for about seven years. Sidhu has been a partner in the Badals' corruption and their other crimes."

The AAP leader said the former cricketer had merely "shifted from one corrupt party to another".

Waraich questioned why Sidhu targeted the Badal family for corruption and amassing huge wealth but kept silent on the alleged corruption of Amarinder Singh and the Congress.

"The Congress has also changed its tone vis-a-vis Sidhu now," the AAP leader said.

Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday told the media here that the assets of the family of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had grown exponentially in the past decade even as Punjab became a debt-ridden state.

Levelling direct accusations at the Badal family, Sidhu said it had prospered in and controlled sectors like transport, hotels, cable TV and mining, among others, in the state.

"In 2007, (when the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power with Badal as Chief Minister), the Badal family had two transport companies and 50 buses. Now they have 650 buses and eight transport companies. Punjab Roadways is suffering losses of Rs 400 crore," the former member of Parliament said.

--IANS

js/tsb/bg