Badals have murdered democracy: Bajwa

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa slammed chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal for "vitiating the election process" of Panchayati Raj institutions and making a mockery of democracy.

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa slammed chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal for "vitiating the election process" of Panchayati Raj institutions and making a mockery of democracy.

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"The Badals have succeeded in murdering democracy in a state that was always a role model for the rest of the country in the implementation of Panchayati Raj," he said in a press statement.

The PPCC chief ridiculed claims of the government that the elections were fair and peaceful.

"Sukhbir Badal is trying to justify large-scale rigging of the election process," Bajwa said. "Opposition candidates were not allowed to even file nomination papers and the Punjab Police was used to coerce opponents."

Bajwa said the role of state election commissioner SS Brar was "shameful" as he had denigrated his constitutional post and played like a "puppet in the hands of SAD-BJP government." He said it had happened for the first time in Punjab's electoral history that ballot papers were photocopied in marriage palaces.

"Sukhbir and his 'accomplices' in this crime made a mockery of the election process," Bajwa added.