punjab

Updated: Sep 06, 2016 22:11 IST

Sacked Punjab unit convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over corruption charges, Sucha Singh Chhotepur on Tuesday said he was removed from the party post under a deep-rooted conspiracy as the party’s national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal wants to become the chief minister of Punjab now.

Starting his “Parivartan Yatra” from Gurdaspur district, Chhotepur said he was going to AAP volunteers and people to highlight the injustice done to him and people of Punjab by AAP leaders in Delhi.

Also read | I will take charge of Punjab unit in my hands: Kejriwal

Addressing a gathering at a marriage palace here, he said: “Instead of recognising my hard work for over two years to strengthen the AAP base in Punjab, Kejriwal sacked me on the basis of the planted sting operation. He tarnished my 40-year clean image as a politician.”

Those were the times: Kejriwal flanked by Bhagwant Mann and Chhotepur at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on February 28, 2016. (HT File Photo)

The former AAP convener said he had given Rs 22 lakh collected from the people in Punjab to Kejriwal as party fund, besides giving financial aid of Rs 6-7 lakh to the families of the three party workers killed in Punjab, including two Scheduled Caste boys and a handicapped person.

Chhotepur said 20 of the 32 AAP candidates in Punjab were involved in various crimes and immoral activities. “Tickets have been given to wrong people by charging money,” he alleged.

“The Akalis have ruined Punjab. People had hope from AAP, but what Kejriwal has done? People are feeling cheated,” he added.