Chandigarh: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann alleged that the BJP-led Centre is playing dangerous games with Punjab as he slammed it after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Saturday conducted fresh searches against Punjab Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora.
He also accused the Centre of using agencies like the ED and the CBI as weapons to meet their political ends.
Mann also accused the BJP of indulging in divisive politics of hatred, and called it Bharat Jalao Party.
He said the BJP is playing dangerous games with Punjab, but the state won’t let them do so.
Addressing a news conference in Sangrur, CM Mann alleged agencies like the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department are four to five weapons at the BJP’s disposal that have been politicised.
For a long time, they have been using them for their politics. Be it Maharashtra, Odisha, Bihar, Karnataka, or West Bengal. Now, Punjab is on their target, CM Mann said.
The ED Saturday conducted fresh searches against Arora and some others allegedly linked to him as part of an investigation into a newly registered money laundering case, officials said. They said Arora’s official residence in Chandigarh is among the five premises raided.
The searches were launched after the central agency registered a fresh case under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said.
In April, the ED had raided Arora and his linked entities under the civil provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
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Arora (62) is an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from the Ludhiana West Assembly seat.
I strongly condemn the misuse of ED, which they are doing, Mann said, hitting out at the Centre.
By conducting ED raids, their purpose is not to find any black money or any illegal document; their purpose is to convey to the person at whose premises the raid is carried out to join the BJP, and everything he has done will be forgiven, he said.
Mann cited the example of Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal and questioned what happened to the ED action against him after he joined the BJP recently.
The Punjab chief minister said the ED’s so-called searches against Arora were going on, the third time in just over a year, though nothing has been found from the previous searches.
He alleged that the Centre operates by instilling fear like this among the opponents and added that they may be able to do so in other states, but their tactics won’t work in Punjab.
I want to tell the BJP, Modi and Amit Shah very clearly that this is Punjab, it is not scared by such threats. Modi had to take a U-turn and apologise over the three farm laws. Maybe Modi is still harbouring that pain, he said.
Earlier, Mann wrote in a post on X, I want to tell Modi ji that Punjab is the land of the Gurus, which even Aurangzeb could not subdue.
Mann further said, This is the land of Bhagat Singh, who never bowed before the British, so Punjab will never bow before Modi’s tactics. The end of this unethical alliance of ED-BJP will begin in Punjab itself. Several other AAP leaders, including Harpal Singh Cheema and Aman Arora, slammed the Centre over the ED searches.
Addressing the press conference in Sangrur, Chief Minister Mann alleged the Centre was adopting a discriminatory attitude and had not yet released rural development funds, the funds of the flood relief package announced last year and had failed to address any issues beneficial to Punjab, including matters related to the Bhakra Beas Management Board, water resources, Panjab University and Chandigarh.
Mann alleged that the BJP plays divisive politics and makes two communities fight and then stands with one of them to seek votes.
This won’t work in Punjab. In Punjab, Hindu-Sikh bonding is very strong. On this fertile land of Punjab, anything which is sown can grow but this land has no place for politics of hatred, I want to tell this to the BJP, which does politics of hatred, he said.
The so-called Vijay Rath of Modi will halt in Punjab after the 2027 Assembly polls, Mann claimed.
He alleged that the BJP wins elections based on the misuse of agencies and tactics like vote deletion, which amount to the murder of democracy, but added that Punjabis won’t allow such tactics.
…This is how they prepare for elections by conducting ED raids… Such things won’t work here, he said.
I want to tell them that if they look at Punjab with an evil eye, then Punjabis will give a stern reply… this kind of dictatorship will not work in Punjab, he said.
Mann further alleged that wherever the BJP goes, it incites riots and then seeks votes. This is their way of working. This is Bharat Jalao Party. BJP is Bharat Jalao Party, he alleged.
If they get a 23rd majority in the Lok Sabha, they will even take out Punjab’s name from the national anthem, he said.
He said BJP leaders like Sunil Jakhar are seeking registration of a sedition case against the chief minister over the accusation of blaming the saffron party for the recent twin blasts in Jalandhar and Amritsar.
(Punjab BJP chief) Sunil Jakhar says sedition case should be registered against Bhagwnat Mann… Will they give us the certificate in patriotism? he asked, while adding he does not care about their cases.
