SAD chief asks Punjab governor to probe AAP's 'advertisement scam' 

CHANDIGARH: SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday urged the Punjab Governor to order a probe into the AAP's alleged use of Rs 300 crore of public funds on advertisements to fulfil its "political goals".

In a letter to Governor Banwarilal Purohit, the Shiromani Akali Dal chief said the Aam Aadmi Party had earmarked Rs 750 crore for government advertisements in the current financial year and has already spent a majority of this amount.

"Instead of spending this money to create awareness about government schemes in Punjab, the government had used the advertisements to promote AAP as well as its convener Arvind Kejriwal across the country," Badal alleged in a party statement.

"The government has thus not only violated the guidelines of the Supreme Court on usage of public funds for government advertisements but has also betrayed the trust of Punjabis," he said.

Badal said that since the Delhi Lieutenant Governor had already taken notice of similar "wrongdoing" in Delhi and ordered a recovery of Rs 97 crore, the Punjab governor too should order a probe into the entire advertising spend of the state government on political campaigns so that this money could be recovered.

He also alleged that the government had used public funds for political advertisements in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat during the recent assembly elections in both states.

He said the entire process was "shrouded in secrecy" with the government refusing to even respond to an RTI query on its advertisement spend.