AAP refuses to take in 4 of Punjab Cong ministers over sand theft allegations

New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) AAP has refused to take on board four Punjab Congress ministers, who have been intending to join the party ahead of 2022 Assembly polls, due to their alleged involvement in the illegal sand mining activities in the state.

"Four senior ministers of Punjab Congress have been approaching Aam Aadmi Party for a while now, but we have refused to accept them as serious allegations of sand theft have been raised against the four time and again," AAP MLA and party's Punjab Co-in-charge Raghav Chadha said in a virtual brief on Monday morning.

Aam Aadmi Party is an honest party and it does not need sand mafias, he added. Illegal sand mining is a major political issue in Punjab against which the Kejriwal-led party has been constantly attacking the Congress government there. In order to counter the problem of sand theft and liquor in the state, the Punjab government has introduced "Mission Clean".

On December 4, Chadha posted a tweet, alleging that illegal sand mining was being carried out in Chamkaur Sahib -- Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's constituency under the former's patronage.

"Illegal sand mining in Charanjit Singh Channi's constituency has been exposed. It is the biggest expose which will shake Punjab's politics," his tweet along with a live video of sand being mined illegally read.

On Friday, he also announced that the AAP will reward Rs 25,000 to the Punjab Chief Minister if he acts against every site where illegal sand mining is being done, alleging that Channi has complete information about the whereabouts of illegal mining in his state.

Punjab, along with the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Goa is slated to go to polls for 117 seats in early 2022. In the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, Congress had bagged a clear majority by winning 77 seats, while the AAP had got 20, BJP 3, SAD 15 and Lok Insaaf party 2 seats.