‘Ousted’ Sodhi accuses Manpreet of pocketing funds

Asking Manpreet to answer his questions within a month,Sodhi told him to explain the continuous downfall in the party and why no organisational structure was in place till now. But the most serious allegation was on Rs 3 crore-party funds collected during Manpreet’s tour of the US and Canada.

“This money was collected for fighting elections. Not a single rupee was deposited in the party’s account but was kept by Manpreet’s family,” Sodhi said.

“His close aides Kushaldeep Dhillon,Jagbir Brar,Bir Devinder,S S Johl have left the party,as it is being run by his wife and in-laws and they felt cheated. Another Rs 3.5 crore was collected from the people on the promise of being returned after the foreign tour. People are now after me for getting their money back. But Manpreet bought new cars and spent the money on renovation of his house. Even during Dasuya bypoll,Rs 7 lakh was collected,but only Rs 5 lakh was given to the party candidate,” he said.

Producing two cheques to show tickets for PPP leaders were sponsored by some NRIs,he said Manpreet’s brother-in-law Jaijeet Johl cheated on leaders like Brar and Dhillon by pocketing their money. “Nearly Rs 4 lakh was collected from all leaders to book their tickets for US-Canada tour. But after the tickets were sponsored by some NRIs,the money was never returned to them,” he added. He also accused the Badal family rebel of double-speak,saying while the PPP denounced VIP culture,Manpreet still has 26 gunmen with him,employed at his Gurgoan residence besides at the houses of his in-laws and relatives.

When contacted,Manpreet said loyalty was suspected and two weeks ago,he had asked Sodhi not to attend office. “I will give a point-by-point rebuttal of all his allegations tomorrow when I am back in Chandigarh. People are bought and internal party information is passed on. When I came to know about this,I had no other option but to ask him to leave,” he added.

‘Kejriwal did not give time to Manpreet’

Claiming that Manpreet Badal was hobnobbing with other parties for a tie-up without taking the founding members of PP into confidence,Arunjot Sodhi said Manpreet had met then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee after being expelled from the SAD. “His second meeting with Pranab could not take place. He then met Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi,whom he described as a political novice,” Sodhi alleged. “Manpreet was also eager to tie-up with Kejriwal but the latter did not give him time to meet even after Manpreet stayed in New Delhi for the same two days.”