Fix accountability for squandering public money

Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal has rightly directed the Chief Secretary to recover Rs. 97 Crore spent on advertisements from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for projecting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the party, in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines. Public exchequer must not be misused for personal political aggrandizement. It was drained away for projecting Kejriwal on the national political scene. It was CM Kejriwal's vaulting national ambition that worked behind the draining away of public exchequer. Delhi Lieutenant Governor’s direction to recover Rs. 97 crore spent on advertisement to project Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from AAP must be executed in letter and spirit because it will also send the message loud and clear to all other state govts irrespective of their political affiliation that if they would commit the same thing as Aam Admi Party has done in Delhi, they would also have to pay. It has been witnessed that since the AAP came to power, it started giving full page advertisements to newspapers to project its leaders not only in Delhi but also in other parts of the country. Public money squandered to project for political gains by the party in power in the state and at the Centre must stop forthwith. AAP is known for outward show, false propaganda and promise. Its claim of being a party completely different from others is nothing but mere an eye-wash. The AAP convener and the Delhi Chief Minister has hoodwinked Delhiites that he would change the system of governance. But instead of changing the system, he demolished it. Without doing any work on the ground, AAP govt. tried to shine itself through advertisement blitzkrieg. It is not only the news papers published from Delhi, but the advertisements were also given to the newspapers published from other state capitals where AAP has no footprint. All these advertisements for projecting CM Kejriwal to satisfy his vaulting national ambition on the expense from public exchequer must be recovered. Delhi has come to a standstill since AAP came to power. It is still where the former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had left it. Most of the promises made by Kejriwal's AAP during electioneering have not been delivered. Neither a single college nor a school has been opened by the AAP government; however, half of its term has almost elapsed. It is despite the fact that AAP govt. has allocated budget for health, education adequately. It appears that it was a well- thought out plan of Kejriwal govt. to allocate sufficient funds to spend on the projection of CM through advertisement. Tall-talking has been the hallmark of Kejriwal govt. in Delhi. There must be the accountability of a single paisa spent on anything by the Delhi govt. from public exchequer. Rs. 97 Crore is not a small amount. It is hard earned public money. How insensitive is AAP govt. that when one-third of Delhi's population finds it difficult to fill its stomach, the AAP govt. spends lavishly on advertisements to project itself. Though the results of recently held assembly elections in Punjab and Goa are anything to go by, it must be clear to AAP that the people can no longer be swayed by false promises and futile idealistic principle.