Chandigarh, July 16 (IANS) Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, alleging that it brazenly subverted the democratic mandate during the election of the President of the Qadian Municipal Council.
Bajwa said the Congress had secured a clear numerical advantage in the Municipal Council (MC) and was fully prepared to democratically elect its President.
He added that the Congress had support of seven municipal wards — Ward 1 (Gurbachan Singh), Ward 2 (Debo), Ward 3 (Sukhpreet Singh), Ward 4 (Harpal Kaur), Ward 7 (Narinder Kumar), Ward 9 (Jatinder Kumar) and Ward 11 (Rajesh Kumar).
Along with his vote as the local MLA, the Congress had the support of eight out of the 15 members of the Council, which was sufficient to form the leadership.
He said the assurances of support had also been received from a few other Councillors.
“Earlier this morning, I had shared this position live with the people of Qadian. The Congress was comfortably placed to elect the President of the Municipal Council through a fair democratic process. However, the AAP government knew it did not have the numbers and therefore chose to murder democracy in broad daylight,” Bajwa told the media in Qadian.
He alleged that despite the appointment of an observer by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to ensure a free and fair election, the district police acted as mute spectators while “AAP-backed goons” allegedly kidnapped Congress Councillors — Joginder Kumar and Narinder Kumar — as they were entering the Municipal Council premises to cast their votes.
Bajwa alleged that another Congress Councillor, Rajesh Kumar, was illegally detained by the district administration in complete violation of the directions issued by the High Court.
“The High Court had categorically directed that no municipal councillor should be arrested or detained in a manner that would prevent him or her from participating in the electoral process. Yet the district police paid no heed to these clear directions and unlawfully detained Rajesh Kumar. He was released only after securing bail,” he said.
Calling the entire episode a “constitutional disgrace”, Bajwa said the AAP government had exposed its complete intolerance towards democratic values.
“A government that cannot win through ballots has resorted to force, intimidation and abuse of the police machinery. This is not merely an attack on the Congress but an assault on the Constitution, the rule of law and the democratic rights of the people of Punjab,” the LoP added.
He demanded immediate action against the police officials responsible for violating the High Court’s directions and sought a thorough, impartial inquiry into the alleged kidnapping, illegal detention and interference in the electoral process.
–IANS
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