Punjab turning into police state: Cong

The Congress on Friday accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party of turning Punjab into a “police state” as it sought exemplary punishment to the police officials involved in the brutal assault on Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his son in Patiala.

The party MLAs also sought an immediate transfer of Patiala SSP Nanak Singh for “shielding” the erring officers.

During the zero hour on the opening of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha’s Budget session, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa sought a time-bound inquiry into the in incident by a sitting or a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

“The law and order had gone for a toss as such an incident in a Sikh-majority state was not only deplorable but had tarnished the image of the police force,” Bajwa stressed. Pandemonium prevailed as Congress MLA Pargat Singh alleged that AAP leaders and Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan had liked the drug menace with the farmers’ agitation.

Before the AAP MLAs hit back for “misquoting” the leaders, Pargat said the state government was building a narrative that the industry was suffering losses due to the farmers’ agitation.

“The truth is that the placing of concrete barricading by the BJP-led Haryana government (on their side of the interstate border to prevent the farmers’ march to Delhi) has hit the industry in Punjab. AAP, in collusion with the BJP, is polarising the border state,” he added.

Congress Gurdaspur MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra tried to corner AAP on the delay in the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme.