Not Punjab Govt, AAP Should Pay for Its Ads in Himachal, Gujarat Polls: Opposition

As Delhi Lieutenant Governor asked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to pay for “political” advertisements from its kitty, political parties in Punjab raised a similar demand, seeking state Governor’s intervention to ask the AAP to pay for its advertisements in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat polls.

Opposition parties like the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have demanded that AAP should pay for all advertisements issued in electronic, print and social media to promote the party in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, besides other states, asserting it should not be done at the cost of the Punjab taxpayers.

SAD senior leader and former minister Daljit Singh Cheema also requested the Governor to institute a probe to quantify the amount which had been wasted in this manner and direct AAP to pay the same from its coffers to compensate the Punjab government. “This can be done on the same pattern as directed by the Lt Governor of Delhi who has ordered recovery of Rs 97 crore from the AAP government for publishing political advertisements in the name of government ads.”

Cheema alleged that Punjab government had kept aside Rs 750 crore for advertisements and was spending an average of nearly Rs 3 crore on advertisements every day.

“A majority of this advertisement spend was outside the State, particularly in Himachal and Gujarat where elections were held recently. Frittering away State resources to expand the network of the party in other States is a clear cut violation of Supreme Court guidelines on the use of public funds for government advertisements and the party should be hauled up for the same,” the senior leader requested the Governor.

The BJP, too, criticized the AAP government for what it claims misusing the state finances to fuel its political campaigns in other state. In a letter to the Governor, BJP leader Sunil Jakhar said the state government had been withholding the issuance of government advertisements to newspapers and channels it wanted to pressurise into submission.

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