Temple attack result of AAP’s failure to act against disruptive forces: Opposition

The Opposition on Saturday accused the Aam Aadmi Party government of completely failing to maintain law and order, saying a grenade attack on an Amritsar temple has laid bare its inability to keep in check the forces wanting to flare up communal tensions in Punjab.

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Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, sought the resignation of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who holds the home portfolio.

The BJP demanded a probe by the CBI into the incident even as the SAD said only a judicial investigation could unearth the conspiracy to disturb the state’s peace and communal harmony.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister told reporters in Chandigarh that Punjab was “completely safe in terms of law and order”.

In a statement, SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said the incident seemed to be part of a plan to disturb the state’s peace and communal harmony.

“This is the 13th such blast in the area and is a proof of complete collapse of law and order in the state,” he said apparently referring to a string of grenade blasts targeting police stations in recent months.

He also accused the state government and the BJP-led Centre of flaring up communal tensions in Punjab.

“Such experiments have proved to be dangerous in the past and are again taking Punjab in the wrong direction. So both state and union governments should learn from history,” Cheema added.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring condemned the incident.

“Yet another grenade attack in Amritsar, this time targeting a temple in the Khandwala area. There is an atmosphere of fear prevailing in Punjab and people are genuinely feeling insecure. It’s high time the @AAPPunjab government wakes up from its deep slumber and takes action,” said Warring in a post on X.

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh sought a CBI investigation.

Expressing serious concern over repeated grenade attacks, Chugh said the AAP government has “completely failed to control disruptive elements in the state”.

He said while police stations were attacked earlier, the targeting of a Hindu temple with a grenade was an alarming development.

He said there appeared to be a deliberate attempt to create communal and social divisions in the state.

However, Chief Minister Mann said many attempts had been made from time to time to disturb Punjab’s peace but the state police had been taking timely action against such elements.

He said mutual brotherhood and peace would be maintained at all cost.

“Being a border state, a number of forces inimical to the state have been chalking out nefarious designs to disturb the hard-earned peace of Punjab,” Mann said in a statement later.

(With inputs from PTI)