Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) raids at Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s camp office have triggered a political storm in the state, with Mann alleging that the BJP-led Centre is using central agencies ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections to target his government.
Mann, reacting to the CBI action on Tuesday, said the raids were a sign of the BJP’s “desperation to gain a foothold in the state” and alleged that the party had turned its agencies against Punjab’s elected chief minister.
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“BJP has started preparing for the Punjab elections. A CBI raid was conducted at my camp office. Now ED and CBI will be misused in Punjab to defame the Punjab Government and me. Seeing the love and support I am receiving from the people, the BJP is rattled,” CM Mann said.
The CBI has registered a corruption case involving an officer on special duty (OSD) to CM Mann and other senior officials, and conducted searches at multiple locations, including CM Mann’s “camp office”.
The action followed directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which ordered a probe by the federal agency after noting that material shared by the Enforcement Directorate prima facie indicated involvement in acts of corruption.
For Mann, however, the timing of the raids is the bigger political story.
He accused the BJP of repeatedly pushing Punjab aside, from the farmers’ protest to the state’s water and the issue of Panjab University and said the CBI action at his camp office was part of the party’s preparations for the upcoming elections.
CM Mann also alleged that the BJP had been unsettled by the support he was receiving from people in Punjab.
His comments were echoed by AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who described the raid as a result of the BJP’s “panic” ahead of the elections.
“The BJP cannot win Punjab by fighting elections, so it wants to fight the elections with the help of the ED and CBI. But Punjabis have made up their minds, and in the upcoming elections, they will respond to the BJP’s CBI raid by giving Bhagwant Mann more than 100 seats and making him the chief minister again,” said Kejriwal.
Punjab AAP chief Aman Arora also linked the raids to the 2027 elections, alleging that the BJP was uneasy with the work of the AAP government.
“Today the CBI has raided the camp office of the Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann. With this, the BJP has kicked off its campaign for the 2027 elections,” Arora said.
“The BJP is uneasy with the works done by the AAP government in Punjab and this is the reason that they have got these raids conducted through agencies. Nobody is supporting BJP on ground.
But people of Punjab are courageous and give strong replies to such tactics. In these elections also, people of Punjab will give strong reply to BJP.”
BJP DENIES CHARGES
The BJP, however, hit back at the Punjab chief minister and rejected the allegation that the CBI action was politically directed.
Senior BJP leader Tarun Chugh demanded CM Mann’s resignation on moral grounds and said the agency was merely carrying out its job following the High Court’s directions.
“Why is the AAP government rattled?” he asked.
Chugh said the CBI had not been sent to Punjab by the Centre, but had been directed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to register a case and investigate allegations based on material placed before it by the ED.
The allegations being investigated include alleged interference in IAS and IPS postings, departmental proceedings, policy decisions, tender conditions, licences, CLU matters, property disputes and Revenue Department matters, he said.
“Instead of political allegations, let the investigation and judicial process take their course. If the allegations are unfounded, the investigation will establish that as well. Punjab deserves transparency, facts and accountability. Let the evidence speak,” Chugh said.
The Opposition in Punjab also seized on the raids, turning the spotlight on CM Mann’s camp office and the functioning of the AAP government.
Punjab Assembly Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa wrote on X, “House No. 50 — @BhagwantMann’s camp office, and the very residence from where his Delhi masters ran Punjab — is now being raided by the CBI.”
“The irony is hard to miss: the place that symbolised Delhi’s remote control over Punjab is now under the CBI scanner,” the Congress leader said, calling for the CBI to expose the truth.
“Punjab must not be turned into a laboratory for electoral quid pro quo,” he said.
Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh also attacked the AAP government, saying its “boat is going to sink”.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal said the raids had sent “shockwaves” through Punjab’s power corridors.
“The agency has reportedly raided 8 to 10 locations, including House No. 50 in Sector 2, the Camp Office of Guru-Dokhi Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. For four and a half years, Punjab has been subjected to hollow promises and allegations of scams, corruption and abuse of power. Now, the very corridors of power are under the CBI scanner,” Badal said in a post on X.
Badal added: “The walls of power are beginning to crumble.”
“The truth cannot remain buried forever, and those responsible will have to face the consequences,” Badal said.
Punjab BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon alleged that the “blatant dishonesty and corruption” of the AAP government had come to light before the people of Punjab and asked the party to cooperate with the probe.
The orders for the CBI investigation have been issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, not by the BJP, Dhillon said.
“Instead of running away from its mistakes and the truth as it does every time, the AAP government should cooperate with the investigation,” he said.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
