Chandigarh, May 10
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann following the arrest of Cabinet Minister Sanjeev Arora by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, and demanded his immediate removal from the Punjab Cabinet.
Bajwa said Bhagwant Mann has completely failed to uphold the standards of honesty and accountability that the Aam Aadmi Party had promised before coming to power. He said the repeated involvement of AAP leaders in corruption-related controversies has exposed the reality behind the party’s so-called model of clean politics.
“Bhagwant Mann should immediately sack Sanjeev Arora from the Cabinet. A minister arrested in a serious money laundering case cannot continue while investigations are underway. If Mann still refuses to act, it will clearly show that AAP’s claims of zero tolerance against corruption were nothing more than political slogans,” Bajwa said.
Bajwa further stated that AAP has now turned “political vendetta” into a standard excuse every time one of its leaders faces investigation or legal scrutiny. “AAP cannot keep fooling people by crying political vendetta in every single case. The people of Punjab are asking why AAP leaders repeatedly find themselves facing serious allegations linked to corruption and financial irregularities,” he added.
Bajwa said the issue is no longer about one individual but about the collapse of AAP’s credibility in Punjab. “The same party that once lectured the entire country on morality and honesty is today busy defending ministers and leaders facing serious allegations,” he said, while adding political morality demands immediate accountability from those occupying constitutional positions.
“Bhagwant Mann must answer whether he stands with transparency and accountability or with ministers facing grave allegations. Silence and inaction from the Chief Minister will only strengthen the belief that AAP has abandoned every principle on which it sought votes from the people,” Bajwa added.
Bajwa further said that it is deeply ironic that AAP, which was born out of a mass movement demanding a strong Lokpal and clean governance, has itself failed to implement those very principles after coming to power. “AAP emerged from the anti-corruption movement promising accountability through institutions like the Lokpal, yet the party never seriously implemented a strong and effective Lokpal mechanism even during its long tenure in Delhi. In Punjab too, the post of Lokpal has remained vacant since October 2025. This exposes the complete hypocrisy of AAP’s politics and shows that its anti-corruption narrative was merely a political tool to gain power,” Bajwa said.
