Political Scene Hots Up In Punjab
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2021-12-06 06:30:29
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
With just a few months remaining for the state elections in Punjab, the political scene in the state, already on fire for the last few months due to the shenanigans in the state unit of the ruling Congress party, has heated up a few degrees more. With AAP sensing a huge opportunity in the state, it has upped the ante by targeting the Congress and chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
On Saturday, AAP's Raghav Chadha conducted what he called a 'live raid' on sand mining operations in Chamkaur Sahib, the constituency of Channi. Showing JCB excavators and loaders working full time in illegally lifting sand on waiting trucks, Chadha alleged that this was happening with the connivance of the chief minister who is a partner in these operations.
The Congress was swift in retaliating. Navjot Singh Sidhu sat on dharna with casual teachers of Delhi government schools who were demanding that their jobs be made permanent as per the promise of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The Congress also alleged that all was not well with the education model of AAP which it highlights to show its progressive governance.
In another development, AAP MP Bhagwant Mann alleged that he has been approached by a "very senior BJP leader" who offered him money to join the party. A lot of money is already allegedly changing hands as defections are happening at a furious pace in this election season.
Meanwhile, home minister Amit Shah has confirmed that the BJP was in talks with both Amarinder Singh and the Akali Dal (Samyukt) of Sukhvinder Singh Dhindsa to form an alliance ahead of the polls. If this works out, Punjab will see fiercely contested four-cornered fights and although the Akali Dal(S)-BJP-Amarinder Singh alliance is far behind in opinion polls, it can spoil Congress' chances and AAP might win.
