AAP leader non-committal on IAS officer joining party in Haryana

The names of IAS officer Ashok Khemka and former Union Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh are making rounds since AAP is looking to rope in honest and popular faces to gain a foothold in Haryana after sweeping Punjab polls.

Chandigarh:Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has expressed its plans to strengthen its political roots in Haryana post its thumping majority in Punjab but the party does not have a face in Haryana and has now set out to rope in honest and popular faces. Earlier today, AAP secretary Indu Gusain has tweeted that Arvind Kejriwal's friend and honest IAS Ashok Khemka will be the leader of the party in Haryana. Indu has claimed that Khemka is leaving his thirty-year-old job to join the party. Even the name of former Union Minister Birender Singh of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) was making rounds.

However, Haryana spokesperson of the party remained non-committal and told ETV Bharat that "Aam Aadmi Party has not announced the name of any leader, social reformer so far. We all welcome people who want to change the system in society and want to put Haryana on the path of development. The people who want Haryana to develop like Delhi and overcome the loss the state had suffered under the tenure of Congress and BJP can join us."

Ashok Khemka has a solid track record and has taken up cudgels against mighty political parties during his tenure. Born in Kolkata, Ashok was a 1991 batch IAS officer. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 1988 and did his Ph.D. and MBA in Computer Science from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. There were 54 transfers in his career spanning 30 years in the civil services.

Earlier when Congress was in power in Haryana, Khemka exposed the companies of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and the land deals of DLF, while serving as DG Consolidation. He also exposed the wheat seed purchase scam and Raxil medicine purchase scam.

Meanwhile, as the Transport Commissioner in the BJP government, Khemka took action against overloading and oversized vehicles. Consequently, he was transferred within six months.

Whereas, Birender Singh has been in politics for almost 50 years and is the grandson of Haryana's eminent farmer leader Chhotu Ram. The father of Birender Singh, Neki Ram has also been active in Haryana politics for a long time. Birender Singh has become an MLA from the Uchana Assembly seat in Haryana five times in 1977, 1982, 1994, 1996, and 2005 and has been a minister in the Haryana government thrice.