New Delhi, 30 July (H.S.): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday staged a protest outside the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) office at Canning Lane in New Delhi under the leadership of Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra. During the protest, BJP leaders and workers demanded the dismissal of Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains over alleged paper leak cases in Punjab. After the demonstration, police detained the protesters and took them to Mandir Marg police station, where they were released after around an hour with a warning.

The protest was attended by MPs Yogendra Chandoliya, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Bansuri Swaraj, Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, state general secretary Vishnu Mittal, Yogita Singh, Mohan Lal Gihara, along with a large number of BJP office-bearers and workers. Thousands of activists from the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, OBC Morcha and Purvanchal Morcha also participated in the demonstration.

Addressing the protest, Harsh Malhotra accused the Aam Aadmi Party of adopting different standards on the paper leak issue in the Centre and Punjab. He said that while AAP talks about morality and accountability over paper leaks at the national level, the party has remained silent on alleged paper leak cases in Punjab.

Malhotra claimed that allegations of paper leaks have emerged in examinations including the Punjab Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), Class 12 English examination, Pharmacy Officer recruitment examination and other recruitment tests, but the state government has failed to fix accountability.

He said, “Resignation in the Centre and protection in Punjab reflects AAP’s double standards.” He alleged that the Punjab government has turned the education system from an “education revolution” into a “paper leak revolution”. He demanded the immediate removal of the Punjab Education Minister, strict action against those responsible and an apology to the students.

BJP state general secretary Vishnu Mittal said that the initial silence followed by attempts to deny the paper leak allegations in Punjab had created anger among the youth. He alleged that the issue had exposed the AAP’s double standards.

MP Yogendra Chandoliya said that the opposition had avoided discussion on paper leaks in Parliament, while AAP leadership had also failed to provide a clear response on the alleged cases in Punjab.

MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat alleged that several paper leak incidents had surfaced in Punjab over the past four years, but the state government was unwilling to accept responsibility. She said that corrective measures were not possible without acknowledging mistakes.

MP Bansuri Swaraj said that AAP’s silence over the alleged Pharmacy examination paper leak case had raised questions. She alleged that the opposition had opposed the anti-paper leak law introduced by the Central government while avoiding accountability in Punjab-related cases.

Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal also targeted the Punjab government and AAP leadership, saying that the party had been exposed on the issue of paper leaks and demanding the resignation of the Education Minister.

The BJP warned AAP that its protest movement would continue until accountability was fixed in the alleged paper leak cases in Punjab and strict action was taken against those responsible.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar