A delegation of the Punjab BJP met governor Gulab Chand Kataria in Chandigarh on Thursday, seeking his urgent intervention against what it termed as the “continuous harassment” of its workers and volunteers during awareness camps on the central government’s welfare schemes.
In a memorandum submitted by state unit working president Ashwani Sharma, the BJP alleged that Punjab Police and the local administration have been disrupting awareness camps organised in villages to inform people about central schemes such as Ayushman Bharat health cards, old-age pension, farmers’ welfare programmes, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, and other Union government initiatives aimed at the poor, farmers, and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe communities.
The delegation’s meeting with the governor took place amid the police crackdown on BJP leaders in Jalandhar, Bathinda, Mansa and Ludhiana districts for organising the party’s mega outreach programme, BJP De Sewadar Aa Gaye ne Thuade Dwar. Several leaders were detained as they defied the Aam Aadmi Party government’s order to stop the campaign. The government has been alleging that the BJP workers were illegally collecting personal data of local residents on the pretext of the outreach programme.
Reports of the police crackdown on BJP leaders were received from Jalandhar, Bathinda, Mansa and Muktsar districts.
{{/usCountry}}Reports of the police crackdown on BJP leaders were received from Jalandhar, Bathinda, Mansa and Muktsar districts.
{{/usCountry}}Former BJP minister KD Bhandari and former Jalandhar MP Sushil Kumar Rinku were detained in Jalandhar, while Ludhiana district rural unit chief Sunny Kainth was detained in Dugri for organising the outreach programme.
Party state general secretary Dyal Sodhi said that the police had detained several party leaders in the state’s Malwa. Mansa BJP president Goma Ram and state executive member and Muktsar resident Pritpal Sharma were among the leaders detained while holding the party’s outreach programme.
Former finance minister and senior BJP leader Manpeet Singh Badal accused Punjab Police of preventing party leaders from holding camps aimed at ensuring that eligible beneficiaries are not deprived of central welfare schemes.
Badal, who was protesting in Muktsar’s Gidderbaha town against the detention of BJP leaders, rubbished the state government’s claims that outreach camps would lead to data breach or compromise the personal details of individuals. He said that the BJP would continue to hold such public camps.
The BJP delegation in Chandigarh said that the camps were being held with the consent and participation of local residents and were “purely for the welfare of marginalised communities.” However, it alleged that Punjab government authorities had been stopping the activities, citing the absence of permission from deputy commissioners and SDMs and objections to political parties conducting such drives.
Ashwani Sharma said that villagers themselves had protested against the state’s actions, asking why they are being denied information about welfare schemes meant for them. He accused the Punjab government of adopting “illegal and coercive methods” due to “political vendetta and fear of BJP’s rising popularity in the state.”
The memorandum demanded that the governor direct the Punjab government to desist from harassing BJP workers and ensure that no obstruction is created in organising such awareness camps. It also urged safeguarding of the democratic rights of Punjab’s people so they can access Union Government welfare schemes “without fear or intimidation.”
Calling the disruption “a violation of democratic rights,” the BJP said the matter concerns the larger interest of justice, democracy, and the welfare of Punjab’s people.