Raghav Chadha is Punjab advisory panel head; Opposition cries foul

Tribune News Service

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Chandigarh, July 11

The Punjab Government has appointed Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha as chairman of the advisory committee “on matters of public interest”, a notification regarding which was issued last week.

Honour to serve Punjab

Mann sahib has honoured me with an opportunity to do ‘sewa’ of the people of Punjab. Will toil hard to make him proud. — Raghav Chadha, Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP

State in Delhi’s control

Chadha is the representative of AAP’s Delhi darbar in Punjab. The move amounts to circumventing people’s will. — Partap Bajwa, CLP Leader

De facto chief minister

Move tantamounts to making Chadha the CM of Punjab. Punjabis did not vote for this change. Punjab govt will now run on contract. — Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, PPCC Chief

The committee will not be entitled to any remuneration or perks. “Chadha, an alumnus of the London School of Economics, is a chartered accountant. He has the experience of working with some big corporate firms,” observed a senior official. Originally hailing from Jalandhar, Chadha has served as Financial Adviser to Delhi Finance Minister Manish Sisodia.

“Chadha is the representative of AAP’s Delhi darbar in Punjab. The move amounts to making Punjab Kejriwal’s colonial outpost,” Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa claimed. The PPCC chief, Amrinder Raja Warring, in his tweet accused CM Bhagwant Mann of creating “extra-constitutional authorities” with no accountability. He called it a plot by AAP to create a “super Cabinet and super CM”.

SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said, “The move tantamounts to Chadha being the de facto CM.” BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh called it the “darkest day in the recent political history of Punjab” as the CM had given his powers to an “unconstitutional authority”.

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