As Raghav Chadha becomes active in Punjab, holds meetings, Opp questions his role

On Thursday, Chadha met newly appointed chairpersons of the government boards and corporations. The AAP and Chadha both shared photographs of the meeting. In a statement, the AAP said Chadha asked the new chairpersons to work hard to bring back the lost glory of the state.

“Extending his best wishes to all newly appointed office-bearers during the meeting, Raghav Chadha stressed they will have to win the hearts of the people of the state with their performance and for this they have to work round-the-clock,” read the statement.

Chadha was also quoted as saying that “people have shown faith in us and we are duty-bound” to work for their welfare.

As per the statement, Chadha reiterated the AAP government’s zero tolerance policy against corruption, and told them that “Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann can tolerate anything but not dishonesty and loot of public money”.

Later, in a tweet, Chadha said that he had “a fruitful discussion on several issues pertaining to governance of the state” with the newly-appointed chairpersons of government boards and corporations. “I conveyed my best wishes to each of them for a successful tenure,” he added.

Sources said that after the Parliament session, Chadha had held review meetings with the officials too. However, Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa, Friday asked under what capacity did Chadha summon the chiefs of the boards and the corporations for the meeting.

Bajwa said it was time CM Mann should define and explain the role of Chadha in Punjab.

“Is Raghav Chadha just a Rajya Sabha member or holds an extra constitutional authority to convene meetings of the chairpersons. Under what authority Chadha is holding such interactions, especially when Bhagwant Mann being the CM, has still not held even a single gathering of the chairpersons,” asked Bajwa.

The senior Congress leader asked was it not a fit case of terming it as a government being run within the government or Chadha administering a parallel set of government in the state without holding any constitutional or legal sanctity.

Earlier, Chadha had called upon the parents of cricketer Arshdeep Singh in Mohali after he was brutally trolled for dropping a catch against Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup. Cabinet minister Anmol Gagan Maan had accompanied Chadha.

In July, when Chadha was appointed as chairperson of the temporary advisory committee, the Opposition had termed the move as an example of AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal running the Punjab government through proxy. The appointment had run into legal trouble too with an advocate filing a PIL challenging it in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The HC later disposed of the petition after the state’s counsel informed the bench that the post had not been notified yet and it was just an order.