Ludhiana bypoll: Cong nominee Ashu dares Punjab CM Mann to open debate on corruption

Ludhiana, Jun 10 (PTI) Bharat Bhushan Ashu, the Congress candidate for the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll, on Tuesday dared Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to a public debate on corruption.

“I have been given a clean chit by the court, but what about Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, all of whom are facing grave corruption charges and are currently out on bail,” Ashu asked.

He also alleged that not just in Delhi, but the AAP government in Punjab has also "broken all records of corruption”.

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau had booked Ashu in an alleged foodgrain transportation scam in 2022. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the FIR in December 2024.

Taking a dig at Mann's claims of making the tehsil complexes corruption-free, Ashu alleged the chief minister was trying to "fool" people.

“Corruption is at its highest in Punjab with a multi-tier system specially introduced by AAP,” he alleged, adding, “This is the AAP model of corruption where you have to bribe people at different levels.” The bypoll to the Ludhiana West Assembly seat will take place on June 19 and the results will be out on June 23. The seat fell vacant after the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January.

Ashu, who’s also the working president of Punjab Congress, said the countdown of the AAP government will begin on June 23 when the results of the by-election will be declared.

“They (AAP) will start packing from that day,” Ashu claimed, expressing confidence that the Congress will win the bypoll by a record margin.

He also said that AAP leaders, who have resorted to "corruption and high-handedness", will not find any place to hide after the bypoll.

Sounding a word of caution for government officials trying to be “more loyal than the king”, the Congress leader said, “Nothing is hidden. Nothing is forgotten. Nothing is forgiven.” PTI COR CHS ARI