AAP's probe panel sends notice to sacked leader Chhotepur

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today sent a notice to Sucha Singh Chhotepur, who was removed from the post of the party's Punjab convenor after a video clip surfaced showing him allegedly taking bribes in exchange for poll tickets.
With the sacked leader drawing support from many in the party's Punjab unit, the AAP made it clear that violating party discipline would invite "strict action".
The party's six parliamentary zonal coordinators in Punjab have recently passed a resolution in support of Chhotepur.
The AAP had recently constituted a two-member probe panel, headed by its Rajouri Garden (Delhi) MLA and Punjab co-ordinator Jarnail Singh and head of the grievance cell Jasbir Singh Bir, to look into the allegations against Chhotepur, who has maintained that in his 40-year-long political career, he has "never taken money from anyone".

"We have sought Chhotepur's reply after which the next course of action would be decided. We will take a decision in this regard shortly," Jarnail told a press conference here in the presence of Bir and the party's legal cell head Himmat Singh Shergill.
When reminded that a probe panel was formed earlier as well which had found Chhotepur "corrupt" and demanded that he be shown the door, Singh said, "I am heading the committee now. No one will face injustice."

Bir, who had reportedly called Chhotepur "corrupt" earlier, clarified his position saying, "When the issue (video clip) came to the fore, I was not aware that I would be a member of the probe panel."

He claimed that Chhotepur has "admitted" to taking money in exchange for poll tickets.
"Chhotepur admitted that he took Rs 2 lakh and as per AAP guidelines, I signed it (recommendation for action against the leader). I admit that," Bir said.
Asked if he should sit in judgment against Chhotepur and continue in the probe panel when he had already formed an opinion about him, he said, "It is for the (AAP's) political affairs committee's wisdom to see."
Asked if he had seen the video clip, Jarnail said he was indisposed due to ill health.
"The committee will start functioning from today. I have the CD. We need to look at it properly and carefully analyse all the evidence," he said.

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Asked if the party will take action against those who have come out in support of Chhotepur, Jarnail said, "Arvind Kejriwal is the supreme leader of the AAP. No indiscipline will be tolerated and explanations will be sought."
On cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu floating a new front, Awaz-e-Punjab, ahead of the 2017 Punjab Assembly election, he claimed that the AAP had the "backing" of the people of the state "because they know that we have stood up and taken on the misrule of the Akali-BJP government."
"There is no scope for the fourth front. However, in democracy, one has the freedom to float such fronts," he said.

Responding to allegations that the party had accommodated certain "undeserving" candidates in its initial list for the Punjab polls, Jarnail said, "If anyone brings evidence against any of our candidates, we will take action. If anything adverse surfaces even a day before the polls, we will withdraw the candidature. We are known for taking such action."
Regarding the criteria for selection of candidates, he said, "They should not be corrupt. Their character should be good and they should not harbour communal feelings. Those committed to the party's ideology will get tickets. It is not about whether one has joined the AAP three months or three years back."

Asked if support for Chhotepur hinted at the AAP's graph going down in the state, Jarnail claimed that the way the party had "broken records" in the Delhi polls, it will repeat the same in Punjab.
He described the allegations of non-Punjabis and "outsiders" calling the shots in AAP's Punjab affairs as "a propaganda by our opponents".
"Neither Durgesh Pathak nor Sanjay Singh has to fight the election here. They have not come to Punjab to become leaders. It is just a propaganda being spread by our opponents for vested interests," he alleged.
On Kejriwal's scheduled Punjab visit a week later and the party looking for a suitable accommodation for him, Jarnail said, "He (Kejriwal) wants to devote the maximum time to Punjab (ahead of the polls). At times, he would have to stay here for 3-4 days at a stretch. We are looking for a centrally located accommodation. It could either be given by a volunteer or we could even pay the rent."

Referring to the party sacking former Delhi minister Sandeep Kumar, who was purportedly seen in a CD in a compromising position with a woman, from its primary membership, the AAP leader took a dig at the BJP, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal, claiming that when allegations of corruption and other misdeeds are levelled against the leaders of these parties, they brush them aside and do not take action against them.