AAP leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira
Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar has demanded that AAP leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira should resign as Leader of Opposition (LoP) on moral grounds following serious allegations of corruption levelled by his own party colleagues.
The Indian Express had reported on Friday that some AAP workers had uploaded a video on Facebook claiming that AAP’s state unit co-president Balbir Singh had told them that Khaira collected cash from people. Khaira had reacted saying he had apprised senior AAP leader and Delhi’s deputy CM Manish Sisodia about the “conspiracy” against him in the party.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Jakhar said that given the gravity of the charges against Khaira, he should quit on moral grounds or the (AAP) leadership should sack him.
The state Congress president cited the reported allegations made by Punjab AAP co-president Balbir Singh, purportedly to some AAP workers, that Khaira took cash from party workers. Jakhar also urged the Vidhan Sabha Speaker to take cognizance of the charges against the LoP and initiate necessary action under the rules of the Assembly.
“The allegations had totally exposed Khaira, already mired in controversy over a drugs case, as completely lacking in political propriety and decorum,” he said.
Considering the high moral ground that AAP had been trying to take on the issues of drugs and corruption before and after the 2017 Assembly elections, allowing Khaira to continue as Leader of Opposition would not be condoned by the people of Punjab, the state Congress president said.
Kejriwal had already set a precedent with respect to tainted party leaders by removing Sucha Singh Chhotepur as AAP state convenor following a cash-packet sting operation and should take the same stand over Khaira, said Jakhar.