BJP Cannot Defeat AAP Politically, So It Is Trying to Intimidate Punjab Through ED: Kuldeep Dhaliwal
Those Who Have Attacked Punjab Have Always Faced Its Resistance; BJP Will Get a Befitting Reply Too: Kuldeep Dhaliwal
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of using the Enforcement Directorate (ED), CBI and other agencies to intimidate political opponents and target opposition governments.
Addressing a press conference, Dhaliwal said that India has never seen such systematic misuse of agencies, using CBI and ED against political opponents had reached an unprecedented level under the BJP government. He said the BJP is trying to win political battles not by seeking people's votes but by creating fear, breaking opposition parties and pressuring their leaders.
Referring to the recent ED actions in Punjab, Dhaliwal said the objective was to intimidate AAP leaders and officials and defame the Punjab government. “This is not merely an ED attack on AAP government; this is an attack by Delhi on Punjab,” he said, adding that history had repeatedly shown that attempts to suppress Punjab had met with resistance from its people.
Dhaliwal said the same tactics had been used in Maharashtra, Delhi, Bihar, West Bengal and other parts of the country to target opposition parties and governments, and that the BJP was now attempting to repeat them in Punjab. He asserted that neither AAP leaders nor the people of Punjab would be intimidated or bow before the BJP.
Taking aim at the BJP's recent 'Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra', Dhaliwal said the response received by the party in Punjab had exposed the gap between its claims and its political acceptance on the ground. He questioned the BJP's campaign against drugs in Punjab while, according to him, large quantities of drugs were being seized in Gujarat. “If the BJP is serious about a drug-free Punjab, it should take its yatra to Gujarat,” he said.
Dhaliwal said the Bhagwant Mann government had implemented several public welfare schemes and that people continued to support the state government's work. He also pointed to AAP leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, having faced imprisonment in cases pursued by central agencies, but said that such pressure had not made the party surrender.
He further attacked the BJP over its political strength in Punjab, recalling that the BJP had only two MLAs in the 2022 Assembly elections. He said the party should not assume that the use of agencies could translate into political support in Punjab.
Dhaliwal said AAP would continue its political fight against the BJP and would not be intimidated by ED or any other agency. He invoked Punjab's history of resisting forces that attempted to suppress the state, asserting that the people of Punjab would give a democratic response to what he described as the BJP's attack on Punjab.
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