New Delhi, Sep 8: The BJP on Tuesday demanded Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s resignation over the alleged suicide of a man, who was pressured by local AAP leaders to apologise for questioning Minister Harpal Singh Cheema over the drug menace in his village.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, party spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia also demanded the resignation of Cheema and the lodging of an FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections related to abetment of suicide.
According to media reports, a 47-year-old daily wager, identified as Gulzar Singh, a resident of Dirba in Sangrur district, died after consuming poison on Monday night after some local leaders of the ruling party allegedly pressured him to apologise for questioning Cheema during an event in the village on September 6.
“Gulzar Singh raised the issue of drug menace during Cheema’s visit to his village. Singh told Cheema that his son takes chitta and urged the minister to take action on its supply,” Bhatia said.
“After the minister left, an AAP leader, who is the sarpanch of the village, visited Gulzar Singh’s home and asked him to apologise to the minister for his remarks,” the BJP leader added.
Neither the ruling party nor the Punjab government has responded to the BJP’s charge.
“When the protector turns the predator, he has no right to remain in office. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann must immediately resign from his post,” Bhatia said.
Before Singh died at a hospital, he narrated the entire episode and took the names of those who threatened him for raising the drug issue before Cheema, the BJP spokesperson said, showing video footage of it.
He demanded that all those named by Singh in the video be booked for abetment of suicide under BNS.
“Cheema must also resign immediately,” Bhatia demanded, adding, “Since he (Gulzar Singh) belonged to a Scheduled Caste, action should also be taken under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.”
Some BJP leaders took to X condemning the death and demanding action.
BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari alleged that the ruling party in Punjab has become a “gangster party”.
In a video post on X, he pointed to the induction of Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, one of the main accused in the 2016 Nabha jailbreak case, into the AAP two days ago.
“On one hand, the AAP is inducting gangsters into its party so that they can intimidate people for votes, while on the other, an ordinary Punjabi who is questioning the drug menace is being harassed, resulting in his death,” he alleged.
When Cheema was asked why chitta (drugs) was being sold in every village of Punjab, instead of finding a solution to the drug menace, the AAP government attempted to silence the questioner by sending goons to his house, Bhandari alleged.
Gurpreet Singh Sekhon joined the AAP along with his supporters at a rally in Ferozepur on Sunday, in the presence of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
Sekhon was one of the main accused in the 2016 Nabha jailbreak case, in which armed assailants attacked the high-security prison and freed six inmates.
“This makes it clear that the Aam Aadmi Party has become a gangster party,” Bhandari said.
BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Chugh alleged that democracy has “completely collapsed” under the AAP government in Punjab.
“Today is an extremely sorrowful day in Punjab’s history. Today, Kejriwal and Guru Dhokhi Bhagwant Mann have proven that they have completely bid farewell to democracy in Punjab,” he said on X.
“The martyrdom of late Gulzar Singh ji will not go in vain. From his sacrifice of life, the Mann government’s misrule will also end, and Arvind Kejriwal’s arrogance towering above the skies will too,” he said.
Chugh demanded that Cheema be immediately dismissed, and a case of abetment to suicide be registered against him.
The BJP leader also accused the state government of failing to address police brutality.
Pointing to the alleged custodial torture of Sikh man Mohanjit Singh a few days ago, Chugh said the Gulzar Singh incident is yet another case of police brutality.
“The Mann government was still just covering up the police brutality that happened to Sardar Mohanjit Singh. Another even more heartrending incident has come to light from Dirba. In the misrule of Punjab’s Super CM Kejriwal and puppet CM Guru Dhokhi Bhagwant Mann, asking questions of the public has become a crime,” he added. (PTI)
