Chadigarh, 17 April (H.S.): Enforcement Directorate raids at the homes of two

AAP leaders in three days, Punjab CM

Bhagwant Singh Mann called out the BJP for using central agencies to begin its

Punjab election campaign, saying a party unable to find 117 candidates is

trying to spread fear instead of winning public support.

The Chief Minister emphasised that opposition governments

are being harassed through blocked funds, Governors, ED, CBI and the Election

Commission, while leaders joining the BJP emerged clean from its ‘washing

machine’. He said AAP would not be intimidated, asserting that Punjabis may

lose their heads but would never bow in fear, and told the BJP to prepare for

2027 by working among the people instead of relying on raids and pressure

tactics.

Addressing a press conference, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann

stated, Our country is called the biggest democracy in the world, the

world’s largest democracy. Here, people elect the government of their choice.

It is the duty of the central government to give every state what is rightfully

theirs, above politics and above party lines. But for some time now, we have

been seeing that democracy is slowly being strangled. All non BJP governments

are being troubled, either directly by stopping funds from the Centre or

through Governors in one way or another.

Targeting the BJP, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said, The

AAP has been specially targeted because it is a party that is growing very

rapidly. It has become a national party in barely ten years. BJP thinks they

can handle Congress, and they have also been hand in glove with Congress at

times, but they do not want a third force to emerge.”

He pointed out, “In this process, they filed fake ED cases

against our leaders in Delhi like in the so-called liquor scam case. Our senior

leaders were sent to jail. Arvind Kejriwal, a sitting Chief Minister was

jailed, along with Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. Our Rajya Sabha member Sanjay

Singh was jailed. Whoever worked behind the scenes, any ‘karyakartas' or

policymakers, all were jailed, threatened, intimidated, and told to join BJP or

face trouble. This politics of fear and intimidation is continuing.

Flagging a clear pattern across the country, he shared,

Across the country, in Bengal, from the DGP onwards, officers have been

changed because elections are coming. They do not win elections through people.

They win elections through ED, CBI, the Election Commission, and other

departments used for intimidation. A few days ago, ED raided the premises of

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal, who runs Lovely Professional University, where

around 4,000 students study. Students from more than 35 countries come there to

study. But because he is an Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP, suddenly he became

tainted.

Speaking on the current raid, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann

revealed, Today, an ED raid is underway at the house of Minister Sanjeev

Arora. He had badly defeated BJP in Ludhiana by-election. So today he too has

become tainted according to the BJP. It means BJP has started preparations for

the 2027 Assembly elections. Send ED, send Income Tax, send notices, create fear.

Because they cannot even find 117 people to contest elections. BJP cannot find

117 candidates, so they are saying either contest under fear or come out clean

from our ‘washing machine.

Hindusthan Samachar / GURSHARAN SINGH