Chandigarh, July 12
In a press conference on Saturday, Punjab Finance Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Harpal Singh Cheema launched a blistering attack on the Congress and BJP, alleging that both parties are working in coordination to protect drug traffickers and gangsters while attempting to stifle the AAP's war against drugs through false FIRs and political pressure.
The AAP minister said that Congress and BJP leaders are now conspiring to silence AAP by filing false FIRs. “We announced the Assembly session for two days, unnerved, Congress leader of opposition Partap Bajwa rushed to Chandigarh police and submitted an online complaint. In just 24 hours, an FIR was registered against me and AAP Punjab President Aman Arora,” he revealed.
Cheema accused the Chandigarh Police, governed by the BJP-led Centre and a BJP-nominated Governor, of acting with lightning speed to file politically motivated FIRs, while thousands of genuine complaints remain pending. He cited official data from the Chandigarh Police affidavit submitted in court: as of May 15, 2024, 7,067 complaints were pending, many involving cybercrime, fraud, and theft.
Cheema recounted how AAP first contested Punjab elections in 2017, when key issues included drug addiction, unemployment, and agricultural distress. The drug problem was the most pressing concern, he said, and even Congress’s national president Rahul Gandhi said at the time that 70% of Punjab’s youth were trapped in drugs due to the Akali-BJP nexus.
Cheema asserted that the AAP government has been running a relentless campaign against drugs for the past three and a half years, which in the last three months has transformed into an all-out war, 'Yudh Nasheyan Virudh'. “We are not sparing anyone. Illegally constructed properties are being demolished, and culprits are being arrested and jailed. A cabinet sub-committee was formed, with me as its chair, and we visited police stations across Punjab,” he said.
Cheema also referred to the recent murder of a cloth merchant in Abohar, for which gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, currently lodged in Gujarat’s Sabarmati jail, has claimed responsibility. “That jail is under the BJP government’s control. Why is it that calls are being made from Gujarat to threaten businessmen across India? A major racket is being run from Gujarat jails to terrorize traders and push them toward the BJP,” he alleged.
The minister warned that the AAP government will continue to expose and dismantle gangsterism and the drug mafia. “Congress and BJP are united to save criminals, but we are united with the people of Punjab. AAP will not retreat. We will continue to fight for truth, justice, and the future of Punjab,” Cheema declared.