With Delhi Assembly elections scheduled for February 5, tensions are high within the INDIA alliance partners—Congress and Aam Aadmi Party—as the electoral battle spills outside the borders of the national capital.
Mounting an attack on the AAP, the Congress on Monday openly criticised the party’s functioning, not just in Delhi but also in Punjab, despite their alliance at the national level.
Quoting a 2017 statement by former IPS officer KPS Gill, who had accused the AAP of promoting radicalism in Punjab, Congress leader Ajay Maken and other party members criticised AAP's negligence regarding the recent attempt to vandalize a Dr BR Ambedkar statue in Amritsar.
“Kejriwal talks about implementing the Punjab model in Delhi, but when he’s in Punjab, he claims he will run the government on the Delhi model,” said Congress leader and former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
In a press conference on Monday, Congress released a document titled ‘AAP Ke Pap’, laying out previous allegations and charges against the Kejriwal-led government.
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Maken quoted news reports about grenade attacks at multiple locations, including police stations, in Punjab. He questioned whether the grenades used in these incidents were the same Austrian-manufactured ones used during the Mumbai bomb blasts and the 2001 Parliament attack.
Additionally, Randhawa alleged that Punjab has witnessed 11 grenade attacks on police stations so far. He even claimed that some incidents were covered up, with authorities terming them as explosions caused by tire bursts or radiator blasts. He condemned the AAP and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for their "ignorance" of the seriousness of these attacks.
He also sought to question the AAP in connection with Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) chief Gurpatwant Pannun’s alleged claims of funding Kejriwal with $16 million.
“Radicals and gangsters in Punjab are part of the same nexus,” the former deputy CM remarked. He questioned the alleged police protection provided to Punjab gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria’s brother. “This is the first time I have seen a gangster’s kin being shielded by police,” he said.
Despite the AAP’s promises to curb drug trafficking, Randhawa said, drug smuggling routes have now extended to Punjab under the party’s rule.
Clearly, the battleground is Delhi but the AAP—Congress divergent stance and blame game on critical issues, particularly those concerning national security, are also taking centre stage this election.
