Punjab’s politics appears to be primed for upheaval. On one hand, some bureaucrats in Punjab government are attempting to destabilise the state government headed by Captain Amarinder Singh. And on the other hand, there is internal fighting in the Congress party.
Some leaders of Congress party are against their own Chief Minister.
After Navjot Singh Sidhu, ex-Minister and Congress MLA, now two other Congress MPs - Ravneet Singh Bittu and Partap Singh Bajwa- are openly closing in on Captain Amarinder Singh in the sacrilege case.
Sources inform that some bureaucrats in Punjab, for their selfish interests, are forwarding documents, which go against the current government in Punjab, to the central agency.
“We have confirmed information that in the last few days, one senior officer met with officials from central agencies ED and DRI in Delhi. And this is the same officer who had been attempting to deliver some documents of Punjab government to the central government for a long time,” said sources.
He is an ambitious officer, but unable to fulfill his ambitions- to get some prime post, and now he plans to destabilise the government, said sources further.
This is not the first time when some officer has attempted to destabilise government.
Before this incident, a big group of bureaucrats whose interests (including sought-after postings) were not being fulfilled had decided to go against the government and the upright lobby of the officers.
Elections are impending –Vidhan Sabha elections are in March 2022 which leaves eight to nine months. If COVID situation improves, then Code of Conduct is expected to be implemented in November or December.
In this scenario, some people look forward to feed two birds with one scone– first, Destabilise the state government, and second, seek favours from BJP government.
ED already has a pending case against Captain Amarinder Singh’s son Raninder Singh in which Raninder Singh has been summoned many a times.
Further, alcohol poisoning case is also lying pending with ED as earlier the case was with Punjab government but later it was forwarded to Delhi.
All in all, there are many cases against Punjab government with the central government. Also, Narendra Modi-led BJP government has a history of using central agencies against their political rivals.
Also Read: Navjot Sidhu blames delayed justice on Punjab CM’s incompetence
However, Punjab was never treated the same way because Punjab is a border state and Modi-led-BJP govt does not want to destabilise it.
Further, Captain Amarinder Singh is known as a nationalist leader, and Punjab has a risk of terrorism getting revived. Not to mention, that Modi and Captain share good relations.
But, elections are looming and the possibility of the central government using central agencies against political rivals is high, especially when a bureaucrat in the state forwards some documents which may be used against the Captain Amarinder Singh government.