New Delhi, Jun 5 (PTI) The BJP on Thursday alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had been reduced to a puppet by AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and that his former Delhi counterpart had made the state into his fiefdom.

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh alleged that Mann had in effect mortgaged Punjab to Kejriwal's team.

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He claimed that leaders with alleged criminal backgrounds, a reference to Kejriwal and his close ally Manish Sisodia, both of whom are accused in the Delhi excise scam case, were calling the shots in Punjab after "losing credibility" in Delhi.

Chugh also claimed that Kejriwal was trying to enter the Rajya Sabha from Punjab.

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Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjeev Arora has been fielded by the party in the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll.

The BJP has suggested that it has been done to send Kejriwal to the Upper House from the seat vacated by Arora if he wins.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)