Jakhar wants Khaira's resignation

Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar on Saturday demanded the resignation of Sukhpal Singh Khaira as Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the wake of the serious allegations of corruption levied by his own party colleagues.

In a statement issued here, Jakhar said that given the gravity of the charges against Khaira, he should quit on moral grounds, failing which he should be sacked by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leadership.

He cited the reported allegations made by Punjab AAP co-president Balbir Singh, purportedly to some AAP workers, that Khaira takes cash from party workers. Describing the charges as shocking, he said the AAP leader had lost all moral right to continue in the responsible position of LoP.

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, said the PPCC chief, demanding his immediate removal from the post.

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, and in fact even as member of the party would not be condoned by the people of Punjab, the Congress president said.

The bribery allegations, which had plunged the beleaguered Punjab unit AAP into a fresh crisis, showed that the party had lost its narrative completely as a serious political entity in the state, alleged Jakhar.

SAD ASKS KEJRIWAL WHY NO ACTION IS BEING TAKEN AGAINST MLA SANDOA AFTER MOLESTATION CHARGES

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday asked AAP Convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to tell Punjabis why he was not taking action against Amarjit Singh Sandoa even after charges had been framed against the Ropar AAP legislator in a woman molestation case.

In a statement here, former minister and SAD spokesman Maheshinder Singh Grewal said Kejriwal had made the issue of woman safety a major poll plank in the 2017 assembly elections.

"Now when his own legislator has been hauled up by the Rupnagar chief judicial magistrate and charges have been framed against him under several criminal acts including intimidating, insulting, assaulting and outraging the modesty of a woman, Kejriwal is maintaining a stoic silence. By doing so he is showing how much respect he has for the victim who is a former AAP worker and daughter of an army officer in particular and Punjabi women in general," he said in the statement.

Asking Kejriwal to take action against the AAP MLA before he is put behind bars, the Akali leader said earlier even after Special Investigating Team (SIT) found Sandoa guilty of beating up and outraging the modesty of his former landlady when she approached him to pay rent due to her, Kejriwal did not taken any action against his party leader. "Now after submission of the challan against Sandoa the chief judicial magistrate has framed charges against him. What is Kejriwal's excuse for not taking action against Sandoa now?" Grewal asked.