In the run-up to the assembly elections in Punjab next month, one of the biggest talking points, other than the drug menace, is corruption. In almost every campaign speech, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is leading the AAP charge in the SAD (Badal)-BJP-ruled state, doesn’t fail to mention the two issues. Over the last two years, a team set up by the AAP leadership has been quietly compiling a secret list of corrupt government officials in the state. This list, sources said, also includes names of several politicians who are on the AAP radar for action should the party form the next government. Sources in the AAP told The Indian Express that the team, led by Himmat Singh Shergill, AAP legal cell head and its candidate from Majitha against state revenue minister Bikram Singh Majithia, has been receiving inputs from volunteers and public to finalise the list. “We have been promised that action against these corrupt officers will be initiated after the party comes to power in the state. Punjab has suffered a lot due to the misdeeds of these officers who helped their political masters loot the state. The response from the volunteers, especially against police officers, was huge,” a member of this team said. Reached for comments, Shergill, while confirming that such a list does exist, said, “See, what has happened in Punjab is that there are politicians and there are some officers who, along with these politicians, have broken all records in corruption. Corruption is so rampant that this state used to be number one and look where it is now. Not just that, in their greed for money, these people have put Punjabi youth on drugs. Due to fake pesticides, so many farmers have committed suicide. Our list has corrupt ministers and politicians. Everything will be there with corroborative evidence. Such strict action will be taken against them that nobody will dare do what they have done.” Asked about the officers in the list, Shergill said, “Yes, corrupt officers are also there in the list. We have evidence. So far, they were getting away because both the parties are corrupt.” A source associated with the exercise said majority of the officers in the list are from the police. “There are many revenue and transport officers too. There are numerous complaints against the police, especially the promotee officers, many of them posted as District SPs in violation of rules, for having lodged false cases against anybody who questioned the leaders of the alliance partners. Even we were surprised by the number of complaints,” the source said. Asked if there was a system adopted by the committee to prevent inaccuracies from creeping into the list, including officers being named to settle old scores, the source said, “Wait and see. We know how to do our job. Adequate due diligence has been done.” Asked what had promoted the party to start compiling such a list and whether there is a name for the list, Shergill said, “No, there’s no name. One of the volunteers came up with this suggestion and we have been collecting all this evidence.” Promising to follow the Singapore model to “completely eradicate corruption”, Shergill said, “This is what happened a few years ago in Singapore. A government came and went after the corrupt and look at the results. What was happening was that cases against the corrupt were not going anywhere. We decided that we should collect evidence. Nobody will be let off.” The AAP’s post-election plan includes pursuing cases in other countries against the corrupt and drug smugglers. Asked about this, Shergill said, “Of course, there are international smugglers also involved in the drugs here. The ED (enforcement directorate) had arrested some of these people. Punjab Police hasn’t done anything so far. We will investigate thoroughly the entire drug chain. We will pursue the cases wherever required.”
