The Congress party on Friday accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of turning ਪੰਜਾਬ into a “ਪੁਲਿਸ state” after a brutal assault on Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his son in Patiala. The Congress demanded severe punishment for the ਪੁਲਿਸ officers involved in the attack and called for the immediate transfer of Patiala’s SSP, Nanak Singh, for allegedly protecting the officers responsible.
During the opening session of the ਪੰਜਾਬ Vidhan Sabha’s Budget session, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa requested a time-bound inquiry into the incident by a sitting or retired judge from the ਪੰਜਾਬ and Haryana High Court. Bajwa also criticized the state’s law and order situation, calling the incident shameful, especially in a Sikh-majority state, and said it had harmed the reputation of the ਪੁਲਿਸ force.
Pandemonium erupted when Congress MLA Pargat Singh accused AAP leaders and Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan of connecting the drug problem to the farmers’ protest. Pargat claimed that the ਪੰਜਾਬ industry was suffering losses not because of the farmers’ agitation, but due to concrete barricades placed by the BJP-led Haryana ਸਰਕਾਰ to prevent the farmers from marching to Delhi. He accused AAP of working with the BJP to create divisions in the border state.
Congress MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra also raised concerns about the delay in implementing the Old Pension Scheme in ਪੰਜਾਬ, further criticizing AAP’s ਸਰਕਾਰ.
