AAP came to end mafia in Punjab, now manager-in-chief: Congress' Sidhu

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab and said that AAP who had come to end mafia in the state and to change the 'system' are now the manager-in-chief of the same.

On Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit's response to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann's letter regarding the pending Rural Development Fund (RDF), Sidhu said, "The governor asked important questions. These questions are related to the future and the next generation of Punjab."

"A mafia was working in Punjab through a system. AAP had come to end the mafia and to make a new system. The same AAP who wanted to change the system is now the manager-in-chief of the same system," Sidhu said while speaking to ANI.

Earlier, in reply to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann regarding the pending RDF amounting to Rs 5,637 crore, Governor Banwarilal Purohit said that it would be appropriate to wait for the Supreme Court's decision before anything is done on the issue.

The Governor also not only indicated that he would not intervene but also flagged the issue to the CM seeking details of Rs 50,000 crore added to the debt of the state in Bhagwant Mann's tenure.

Mann had written to the Governor and urged Governor Banwarilal Purohit to take up the issue of pending RDF amounting to Rs 5,637.40 crore with the President and the Prime Minister, the move coming two months after Punjab government moved the Supreme Court over the issue.

Seeking the Governor's intervention in getting the pending RDF from the Centre, Mann said that his government has taken up the matter with the Centre and even at the level of the prime minister.

However, the amount of RDF has not yet been released by the Centre, he said.