New Delhi, 08 September (H.S.): Punjab Assembly Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa has demanded the resignation of state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema over the death of farmer Gulzar Singh. Bajwa also demanded that a First Information Report (FIR) be registered against Cheema. He alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was not even allowing people to question those in power.

Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters here on Tuesday, Bajwa said Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema had claimed at a gathering on September 6 that the state government’s campaign against drug abuse had been successful. Gulzar Singh, who was present at the gathering, reportedly challenged the minister’s claim, saying that drugs had reached virtually every household in Punjab. The following day, members of the village panchayat and Aam Aadmi Party supporters allegedly visited Gulzar Singh’s residence and asked him to apologise to the minister.

Bajwa claimed that after Gulzar Singh refused to apologise, pressure on him intensified. He subsequently released a video in which he alleged that he was being threatened at the minister’s behest. Bajwa said reports have now emerged that Gulzar Singh allegedly died by suicide after consuming aluminium phosphide, commonly known as Celphos.

He said a disturbing picture of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab was emerging. According to Bajwa, whenever government employees, farmers, MGNREGA workers, ASHA workers, labourers or young people stage protests anywhere in the state, police force is deployed against them. He alleged that the AAP government had turned the Punjab Police into a “private militia”.

Bajwa said the Aam Aadmi Party had been in power in Punjab for more than four years but had failed to improve the state’s situation. He claimed that the law-and-order situation in Punjab had deteriorated and that people no longer felt safe.

The Congress leader alleged that extortion, gangster activities and drug trafficking continued to pose serious challenges in the state. Punjab is a border state, and drugs and weapons are allegedly being smuggled from Pakistan through drones. He said both the state and central governments had failed to exercise effective control over the problem.

Bajwa said that if Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia were genuinely concerned about Punjab, they should ensure Harpal Singh Cheema’s resignation and demand that an FIR be registered against him in connection with Gulzar Singh’s death.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar