CHANDIGARH: The BJP, which has made campaign against corruption its big battle cry, is coming in for stick in Punjab. Reason : Its first candidates list has names that are either tainted or face serious corruption charges. Leading this pack is MLA and former BJP chief parliamentary secretary Raj Khurana, who the CBI arrested in a corruption case last May. Khurana's home was raided. The probe agency had also arrested a former state government employee for allegedly demanding money from a contractor to be passed on to the MLA for fixing a deal. The search at Khurana's house had led to the seizure of Rs 15 lakh in cash and a cheque worth Rs 1 crore apart from a Porsche. Investigations are on and the CBI is yet to chargesheet Khurana, an MLA from Rajpura . He has been given the ticket from the same constituency. After Khurana was put behind bars, the party had showed him the door. But it gave him a ticket nonetheless. This, sources say, was because his "popularity " remained unaffected despite the corruption case. Former industries minister Manoranjan Kalia, who the CBI also questioned in the Khurana corruption case, has also got a ticket. Although the investigating agency gave him a clean chit, Kalia was one of four ministers to quit the Punjab cabinet last May after the corruption scandal broke. Industries minister Tikshan Sood is the other BJP leader to have got a ticket despite corruption allegations. A forest officer had levelled embezzlement charges against him. However , no police case has been registered so far. Former Himachal chief minister and Punjab BJP in charge Shanta Kumar told TOI that the decision to give the trio tickets was taken after considering all factors. "The high command discussed the pros and cons before allotting the ticket," he said. BJP, which is SAD's alliance partner in Punjab, had played a major role in the formation of the government in 2007 winning 19 out of 23 seats. It will again contest 23 seats and with SAD and plans to invite activist Anna Hazare to campaign against the Congress.
