The AAP government in Punjab is no stranger to political controversies, but its challenges appear to be steadily mounting with barely five months left for the state’s assembly polls.
Another political storm hit the AAP after a Dalit daily wager died by suicide in Sangrur on September 7, a day after questioning cabinet minister Harpal Singh Cheema, the party’s most prominent Dalit face, at a public interaction about the unchecked supply of drugs in his village. A series of developments over the past two months, including Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids, growing discontent among employees over dearness allowance dues and unfulfilled promises, protests over drug menace, and a severe power crisis, have kept chief minister Bhagwant Mann and his team in near-constant crisis management mode. The controversies have not only tested the party leadership, but also put the government’s functioning, particularly its record on pre-poll promises of providing corruption-free governance and making Punjab drug-free, under the microscope. As the opposition grabbed these opportunities and mounted a concerted attack, AAP leaders, who had hoped that their highly publicised monthly allowance scheme for women, ‘Mawan Dhiyan Satkar Yojana,’ would dominate the political narrative, have been left scrambling to contain the damage at a crucial time. The ED last month sent letters to the state police chief to register a case in the matter. Ghuman, however, denied any role, accusing the Opposition of character assassination. Though the police promptly registered an FIR against five persons for alleged abetment to suicide, the incident put the AAP on the back foot and raised questions over the government’s anti-drug campaign. The episode does not bode well for the ruling party on two fronts: the Dalit community is a key constituency being assiduously wooed by all parties, while the drug menace has once again become a major election issue. The AAP and the Congress have, in turn, blamed alleged drug smuggling through Gujarat ports. AAP chief spokesperson and former cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal dismissed the ED searches and the Opposition’s allegations as desperate attempts to target the state government. “CM Mann has done much more than any other previous CM to tackle drugs. We will fight the elections on our government’s development and welfare record,” the Ajnala MLA asserted, pointing to crowds at Mann’s rallies as evidence of his popularity.
He said the Congress was divided, SAD weakened, and the BJP irrelevant in Punjab.
Earlier, the name of the chief minister’s OSD Rajbir Ghuman had surfaced in connection with alleged attempts by private persons to influence the transfers and postings of officials and government functioning. The BJP, whose anti-drug yatra will culminate in a rally to be addressed by Union home minister Amit Shah in Jalandhar on Wednesday, and the SAD have targeted the Mann government over its handling of the drug problem.
