Cutting across party lines, leaders slam govt for action against Bajwa

Political leaders cutting across party lines on Monday slammed the Punjab Government for lodging a case against Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa for his “50-bombs-have-reached-Punjab” claim.

All India Congress Committee general secretary incharge for Punjab Bhupesh Baghel accused the AAP government of political witch-hunt. “Punjab is a sensitive state and the government should take all security-related inputs very seriously,” he said.

Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh accused the government of being “incompetent”. “Instead of taking the warning seriously, CM (Bhagwant Mann) accused Bajwa — who had lost a family (member) to terrorism — of links with terrorist groups,” he said on X.

Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari said Bajwa was an experienced political leader with over five decades of service to Punjab and the country.

“He lost his father Satnam Singh Bajwa in a terrorist attack on July 10, 1987. He has been on the forefront of the battle to preserve, protect and defend the unity and integrity of India. The government should have engaged with him constructively to find out his concerns,” Tiwari said.

Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Bittu said CM Mann has not only ignored grave security concerns but has also “irresponsibly politicised the issue”. “Bajwa, who holds a Cabinet rank, merely voiced legitimate concerns. Instead of responding with maturity and statesmanship by engaging in a dialogue, the CM chose to misuse the state machinery,’ he said.

Senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the situation in the state was “worse than the Emergency”. “If the Leader of the Opposition has to face an FIR for expressing his views, one can think of the common man. It is bad state of affairs,” he added.

SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia said he had predicted in mid-January that “attempts were being made to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state and any prominent Hindu leader or businessman could be the next target of attackers”.

He said two months after his prediction, a grenade attack took place at the residence of former minister Manoranjan Kalia on April 8.

He said when Bajwa acted as a whistle blower and disclosed that there was a threat of more grenade attacks, he had been booked in a frivolous case. Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal too slammed the CM for the lodging of a case against Bajwa. “Mann has started considering himself a god,” she said.

Himachal Pradesh Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri said the “harassment” of Bajwa at the hands the Punjab Government was a “deliberate attempt to throttle the voice of the Opposition”.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said the FIR against Bajwa shows that the government has crossed all limits of intolerance and authoritarianism.

“We will fight in the court of law and in the court of people, against it,” he added.

Congress Lok Sabha MP Sukhjinder Randhawa said except for the CM, everyone else was well aware about the smuggling of grenades.

“This shows that the FIR against Bajwa has been lodged purely out of political and personal vendetta,” he said.

Congress protests across Punjab

Bathinda: Congress Workers on Monday protested across the state against the lodging of a case against Bajwa.

Acting on the directives of state Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, the party workers took to the streets in Bathinda.

Under the leadership of Bathinda district president Rajan Garg, a large number of party workers and leaders gathered near the railway station and burnt an effigy of the AAp government.

They demanded immediate cancellation of the case filed against Bajwa.

The Congress leaders stressed that the Bhagwant Mann government should focus on the failures of its intelligence department instead of targeting Opposition leaders.

Sangrur: Meanwhile, in Sangrur, Congress workers burnt an effigy of the Chief Minister at Barra Chowk. The protesters were led by Sangrur Congress president Surinder Pal Singh Sibia, who is also a former Sangrur MLA.

They raised slogans against the Punjab Government.

Sibia said a false case has been registered against Bajwa, which won’t be tolerated by his party. — OC

Punjab