Congress objects to Punjab SC Commission overreach on Bajwa

The Punjab Congress has taken strong exception to the overreach of the Punjab Scheduled Castes Commission in summoning Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa over the display of pictures on a hoarding.

Reacting to the summons, senior party leader and former Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Rana KP Singh noted that monitoring the election activity and compliance with the election code of conduct was the job of the Election Commission of India and not the Punjab Scheduled Castes Commission.

Observing that the commission’s action to summon Bajwa smacked of bias against the particular leader, Rana pointed out that he (Bajwa) was not the only leader who addressed the meeting where the hoarding was installed to which the commission had taken objection.

“Why select out Mr Bajwa alone for summoning?” he asked, while adding, “just because he is actively campaigning in Tarn Taran”. The former Speaker emphasised that there cannot be a parallel structure to the Election Commission of India in conducting and supervising the elections as this will undermine the due process with a risk of denying the level-playing field to the opposition parties.