New Delhi. Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Pratap Singh Bajwa has demanded the resignation of state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema in the case of the death of farmer Gulzar Singh. Bajwa said that an FIR should also be lodged against Cheema. He alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government is not even allowing people to ask questions.
Bajwa said in a press conference at the Congress headquarters here on Tuesday that Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema had claimed in a meeting on September 6 that the campaign against drugs in the state has been successful. Gulzar Singh, present in the meeting, had opposed the minister’s claim and said that drug addiction has reached every house in Punjab. The next day, the village panch and Aam Aadmi Party supporters reached Gulzar Singh’s house and asked him to apologize to the minister.
He claimed that after refusing the apology, pressure increased on Gulzar Singh and later he released a video accusing him of being threatened at the behest of the minister. Bajwa said that now the news is that Gulzar Singh committed suicide by consuming sulfas.
He said that a worrying face of the Aam Aadmi Party government of Punjab is emerging. Wherever government employees, farmers, MNREGA workers, Asha workers, laborers and youth protest in the state, police force is used. The Aam Aadmi Party government has converted the Punjab Police into a “private militia”.
Bajwa said that it has been more than four years since the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in Punjab, but it has not been able to improve the situation in the state. The law and order situation in Punjab has deteriorated and people are not feeling safe.
The Congress leader alleged that extortion, gangster activities and drug trafficking remain serious problems in the state. Punjab is a border state and drugs and weapons are being smuggled from Pakistan through drones. Both the state and central governments have failed to exercise effective control over this issue.
He said that if Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia are really concerned about Punjab then they should take the resignation of Harpal Singh Cheema and file an FIR against him in the case of Gulzar Singh’s death.