Chandigarh, October 29
Bharatiya Janata Party state president Sunil Jakhar has written to the Governor of Punjab, urging him to recommend to the Election Commission that the Model Code of Conduct be enforced in the state at the earliest. Citing Punjab’s deteriorating law-and-order situation, which he said the Bhagwant Mann government had itself now acknowledged, Jakhar said this was necessary to ensure that the forthcoming Assembly elections were peaceful and fair and that people could exercise their right to vote without fear. He disclosed this at a press conference here.
The former Punjab BJP president also said the party would soon approach the Election Commission of India to demand early enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct. He alleged that if the AAP government remained in power any longer, it would worsen the situation to such an extent that holding peaceful and impartial elections in an atmosphere free from fear would become impossible.
Speaking to reporters, Jakhar said the party was also exploring legal options to seek the externment of Manish Sisodia and Arvind Kejriwal from Punjab on the basis of Sisodia’s inflammatory statements that, he alleged, were disturbing the state’s atmosphere. This would prevent them from visiting Punjab and spreading further poison, he said. He alleged that AAP was pushing Punjab into the flames of unrest as part of a deliberate conspiracy.
Jakhar said an anti-drug marathon had been held annually in Abohar for several years, with thousands of young people participating in the campaign against drugs. This year, however, the government had cancelled permission for the marathon in writing, stating that the atmosphere was unfavourable and that the event could not be held because of the poor law-and-order situation.
Jakhar said law and order in Punjab had indeed deteriorated to an extremely alarming level and that no one in the state was safe. While drugs were claiming young lives, he alleged, the terror unleashed by the drug mafia had grown to such an extent that sincere voices speaking out against drugs were being silenced with bullets.
Jakhar said people were being killed openly across Punjab—from the holy city of Sri Amritsar Sahib to Tarn Taran, Khemkaran, Gurdaspur, Sri Hargobindpur, Mansa, Abohar, Sangrur and Ludhiana—in virtually every district and town. Criticising the government’s role, he alleged that police were even forcibly taking away the bodies of children who had died due to drugs. Anyone who protested against drugs or expressed their anguish before the government, he said, was either subjected to police repression or driven to suicide.
Jakhar attributed these developments to what he described as a deliberate strategy of the AAP government. He said the party’s own senior leader, Manish Sisodia, had revealed this approach by stating that they would use every means to win elections—persuasion, inducements, punishment, division, confrontation, lies or truth.
Jakhar alleged that, under this strategy, the government had appointed pliant officers, while criminals and gangsters were either being inducted into the party or provided protection. He further alleged that the Chief Minister’s Office had itself become a hub of corruption and that Punjab was suffering the consequences of this policy.
Jakhar said public confidence in the system was declining because officers appointed to maintain law and order were allegedly functioning as collection agents for the government. He also alleged that drug and arms networks were operating from prisons, while smugglers and murderers were being released on parole and helped to flee abroad.
Jakhar further alleged that transactions involving crores of rupees were coming to light in connection with attempts to suppress cases of sexual assault against women. He claimed that the Chief Minister’s own family had also been named in one such matter and that, despite High Court directions, the government was failing to have the case investigated.
The former Punjab BJP president said that, in such circumstances, holding free, fair and peaceful elections in a border state like Punjab would become impossible. He alleged that the AAP government was continuously worsening the situation and that, by the time elections would become due, the Bhagwant Mann government would have created such an atmosphere of fear that citizens would be unable to vote freely.
Allowing this government more time, he said, would amount to permitting violations of the fundamental and human rights of the people of Punjab. He alleged that the government was acting deliberately because it lacked the courage to approach people for votes and wanted to use the deteriorating law-and-order situation as a pretext to postpone elections.