TC Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has accused the ruling party for not allowing candidates to file nomination papers in the upcoming municipal bodies’ elections in Punjab. Addressing the media at a press conference convened at the party headquarters, senior leader of the party and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Harpal Singh Cheema said that when the Aam Aadmi Party candidates reached the SDM office in Jalalabad on Monday, to file their papers, the SDM was not present in his office.
He said the ruling Congress party, with the help of the police, snatched the papers of the candidates in a blatant hooliganism and pushed them out of the SDM court and threatened to kill them. He accused the station house officer (SHO) of Jalalabad City, stating that all this happened under his leadership.
Cheema said that a similar incident occurred at Guru Har Sahai where AAP MLA Kulwant Singh Pandori had been sitting in the SDM office with the party candidates since morning, but there was no permission to file the nomination papers and only Congress candidates were being allowed to file the papers.
“The Congress candidates are visiting the houses of the AAP candidates in Zira along with police and are threatening them that if they file their nomination papers, they will have to pay a heavy price,” he added. He said that AAP had been in touch with the officers in this regard time and again, but the officers were not showing any way to provide relief.
He said that complaints in this regard had been filed to SSPs and Deputy Commissioners of Fazilka and Ferozepur, respectively.
Cheema said that the complaints demanded immediate action against the concerned SHOs of Fazilka, Zira and Guru Har Sahai, for immediate removal from the duty and replacement of the ROs. Demanding immediate deployment of the paramilitary forces, Cheema stated that the police and civil officers were working at the behest of Captain Amarinder Singh. He said in this way the democracy was being flouted on the orders of the Chief Minister and even the candidates were not allowed to submit the nomination papers.
“We have already met the Punjab State Election Commissioner and demanded that the Captain’s government has not done anything in Punjab, so they will loot the elections, intimidate and beat the people, for which paramilitary forces should be provided here,” he said. Cheema said that just as the SAD-BJP government had been committing hooliganism in the past, now the Captain government, committing the same. He said that the Congress party was creating panic, so that the people do not go out of their houses to cast their votes on February 14.
Cheema demanded the Punjab State Election Commissioner to immediately transfer the SHOs and DSPs of Fazilka, Zira and Guru Har Sahai and appoint new officers there. He said that today, bureaucracy was working as if they were Congress leaders. He added that when the Aam Aadmi Party government would come, a lesson would be taught to the officers working as a party.