Chief Minister of Telangana K. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav recently visited the state at the invitation of Chandrasekhara Rao. Bhagwant Mann’s body language, though three chief ministers and one former chief minister, showed signs of his leader’s closeness. The reason for this was that Kejriwal as the Aam Aadmi Party convener is Mann’s ‘boss’ even though he is the Chief Minister of Delhi. This ‘faithfulness’ is often criticized by opposition parties. Both the Congress and the Akali Dal have frequently criticized Mann and his government for not ruling Punjab from Delhi. When the Bharat Jodo Yatra reached Punjab, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also criticized that ‘Punjab should not be ruled from Delhi’.
But reports say that Bhagwant Mann is slowly trying to come out of this shadow and has started showing his authority and independence as Chief Minister more than before. The resignation of two ministers in his cabinet due to corruption is considered as such a move. A third MLA was recently arrested in connection with corruption. Man says corruption will not be tolerated. Asked if there is any shame in his own party MLAs being accused of corruption, the Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson said, ‘We are proud to expose such people’. But not everyone in the party is too happy about such things. Will such a move by the Aam Aadmi Party government strengthen or weaken the party in Punjab? What will be Bhagwant Mann’s approach going forward as the enemies are increasing in the party?
∙ People complained, MLA arrested
Recently, when Bhagwant Man toured Bhatinda Rural constituency, widespread complaints were raised from the common people against local MLA Amit Ratan Kotphata. Complaints were that MLAs were demanding bribes even for sanctioning government projects. Then Mann, through his aides, inquired about the allegations leveled against the MLA. Meanwhile, the vigilance had received a complaint against the MLA from the husband of the sarpanch of Ghuda village in Bhatinda. The MLA demanded that Rs 5 lakh should be paid as bribe if the government wants to grant Rs 25 lakh. Along with this, the audio and video footage of the bribe demand was also collected. The government has decided to undergo a forensic examination.
Meanwhile, vigilance caught Kotphata’s assistant Rashim Garg with Rs.4 lakh. The opposition has come forward with the allegation that the government is playing hide and seek without arresting Kotfatta despite the arrest of the aide. The chief minister gave permission to arrest Kotphata after the audio clips demanding bribes and other things were circulated. This was after a forensic examination proved that the audio was not a fake. Kotfatta has now been released in four-day custody. Kotfatta has been involved in many controversies in the past. He was earlier expelled from Akali Dal in the case of extorting money from many people by promising them jobs. Mann later tweeted that whoever takes bribes will not be forgiven in any way, there will be no mercy for those who eat people’s tax money and the law is the same for all.
∙ Chief minister revealed 1% bribe of minister
Soon after the Aam Aadmi Party government came to power in Punjab with a huge majority, a minister was sacked shocking the state. Health Minister Dr. Vijay Singla was the first to be sacked by the Chief Minister for corruption. Not only did the minister lose his job, but the chief minister himself called out the way in which the minister had committed corruption. Things changed when the chief minister received a telephone conversation from the minister asking him to pay a percentage commission for various contracts related to the health department. Mann himself said that after hearing this, he was convinced that the minister had committed corruption. Dr. Singla was sacked as minister. Singla, who was later arrested by the police, was granted bail by the High Court.
Despite being a minister and being arrested in a corruption case, Dr. Singla is still an MLA. He also attends party meetings. Complaints were also raised against Bhagwant Mann at this stage that Singla could have been removed from the ministerial post but there was no need to publicly humiliate him. Dr. said that he had committed corruption. Mann had also said that Singla had agreed with him. Congress leader and famous singer Siddu Musawale was defeated by 63,000 votes. Singla became MLA. Siddu Moosawale was later killed. After getting bail, Dr. Singla went to Moosawale’s house and met his parents.
∙ Follower Otti, lost his ministership but safe
Dr. Singla was arrested in May 2022 and the next case came out in September. Fauja Singh Sarari, who was the Minister of Food Processing and Horticulture, was caught this time. A recorded 1 minute 40 second conversation between him and his PA, Tarsem Lal Kapoor, went viral. It was discussed that money should be collected from the contractors who deliver the food grains to different places. But Sarari’s argument was that the voice in the circulating audio was not his. He has always said that the audio is fake and edited.
Sarari had filed a PA for not helping a relative in a police case. This audio was released by the PA itself which started propaganda against Sarari. There was a massive demand for Sarari’s ouster. But the Chief Minister and others did not take any action in that regard. Sarari, who had been active till then, also started living in seclusion. According to information that emerged later, Sarari was not expelled as per the instructions of the party’s Delhi leadership to give him a chance to leave with dignity. Sarari resigned four months after the corruption allegations came to light. He said that he was voluntarily resigning due to personal reasons. But there was no police case against Sarari. In the case of the arrest of Amit Ratan Kotphata, the Congress asked why no action was taken against Sarari despite the existence of evidence.
Sarari, who was a former police inspector, came into the election promising to find a solution to the problems faced by the people. He won the election and became MLA and minister. But later the complaint raised by the people was that Sarari, like many MLAs, became inaccessible to the people after winning. The fact that Sarari belongs to the Rai Sikh community, a Scheduled Caste community that has a strong presence in the Punjabi population, is also said to be the reason why he was not immediately removed from the ministerial post. This is a community that can influence the votes of at least nine constituencies in two districts. Sarari is a leader who is in close contact with the party’s Delhi leadership.
∙ Many problems, Bhagwant trying to establish himself
Being a border state, Punjab is facing many problems. Those issues include the recent rise in Punjabi Khalistan claims, the rise of extremist groups and the killing of people like Siddu Moosawale by criminal gangs. Apart from this, in the name of preventing corruption, the vigilance department has been left in the lurch, creating problems. The bureaucratic community and IAS officers of the state are very angry with such moves. Punjab civil servants recently took a collective leave to protest the vigilance arrest of one of their colleagues. The IAS officers had also protested against the vigilance action against the 2008 batch IAS officer.
Similarly, there are allegations that the Aam Aadmi Party leadership in Delhi is trying to interfere in the state administration. After Bhagwant Mann came to power, Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP and youth leader Raghav Chadha was appointed as the Chairman of the Punjab Government Advisory Panel. Chadda even called meetings with officials. However, according to reports, Mann rejected the proposal to appoint IIT-educated Naval Aggarwal, a close associate of Chadha, as Chief Minister’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD). Instead, his friend Manjit Singh Sidhu was appointed to that position. Bhagwant Mann has been trying for some time now to reduce the accusations that he is dictating how to rule from Delhi. Aam Aadmi Party came to power in Punjab in March 2022. Vigilance has registered 119 cases till November. 180 people were arrested.
Man had stated the other day that the state would be rid of drug-mafia gangs. A week ago, the incident in which two people were killed in a clash between criminal gangs in Goindwal Sahib Central Jail in Punjab brought shame to the government itself. Following this incident, seven policemen were suspended and 5 people were arrested in the case. Meanwhile, under the leadership of Amritpal Singh, head of ‘Waris De Punjab’ organization, thousands of armed people stormed the Ajnala police station in Amritsar and demanded the release of an accused. Following the violence, Amritpal’s follower Lovepreet Singh Toofan had to be released by the police. Amritpal’s organization, which follows the ideas of separatist Bhindranwala, is gaining strength and is also a challenge for the Mann government.
But the Chief Minister says that previous governments have nurtured drug culture and criminal gangs in Punjab. He clarified that the Aam Aadmi Party government will end this. Mann had also reached Delhi when Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested in connection with the liquor policy. Bhagamant Mann is also participating in the meetings held in Raipur as part of Chhattisgarh assembly election campaign along with Kejriwal. AAP’s promise in Chhattisgarh is Delhi-Punjab model development. Kejriwal along with Mann is campaigning ahead of AAP contesting the elections to be held this year.
English Summary: Is Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann Trying to Step Out of Delhi AAP and Kejriwal’s Shadow?