Sidhu Moosewala killing: On back foot, AAP in huddle

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 30

Facing political heat after the brutal murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala yesterday, the Aam Aadmi Party, which was on the upswing after dismissing its own Health Minister over corruption charges last week, has been forced into a huddle.

Not only was the Cabinet meet, scheduled for mid-morning today, postponed, the three-day training session for first-time MLAs too was deferred by Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, citing “unavoidable circumstances”.

Wary of blowback

• The top brass assessed the impact of the government’s response to the incident and gauged public sentiment
• DGP VK Bhawra was asked to clarify on referring to the slain musician as a gangster
• With the Sangrur bypoll on June 23, the AAP is wary of blowback on th party’s image

Though the Speaker initially decided to remove just the dinners and cultural programme from the itinerary, he later announced deferment of the session. Had the training session been held, members of the Opposition parties would have gunned for the government.

Even in the Punjab Civil Secretariat an uneasy calm seemed to have enveloped both ministers and officers. CM Mann remained ensconced in his official residence, holding meetings with top officers and his advisers.

The public release of the list, specifying pruning of security of VIPs, which has become a talking point among the Opposition parties, was discussed, as was the reaction of the Opposition in the aftermath of the murder. Sources say the top brass in the government tried to assess the impact of the government’s response to the incident and gauge the public sentiment.

It was a result of this discussion that DGP VK Bhawra was asked to clarify he had not referred to the slain musician as a gangster. It was also a face-saving measure that the CM said he would look into all aspects of pruning of the security of the singer.

The blowback of the incident on the party’s image of providing a stable government is much stronger this time, considering it comes ahead of the Sangrur bypoll on June 23.

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