Former Education Minister and MLA Pargat Singh, strongly condemned the Aam Aadmi Party’s “Carrot-and-Stick” approach in the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections. He accused the Punjab Government of misusing police and district administration officials to threaten and prevent opposition candidates from filing their nomination papers.
He urged the Election Commission to issue strict directions to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections, and to prevent the misuse of government machinery. Pargat Singh stated that AAP’s Punjab in-charge, Manish Sisodia, had openly advocated the use of any means necessary to gain power, and the State Government is now fully implementing that strategy in the ongoing local body elections.
The government, he said, is employing every possible tactic to secure victory and is willing to go to any extent. Opposition party candidates are being intimidated through police officials and threatened over the phone.
Furthermore, he alleged that the government has secretly directed all Deputy Commissioners to reject opposition parties’ nomination papers on a large scale. He pointed out that Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal has also held a protest in Tarn Taran district against the government’s high-handedness, while former Congress MLA Madan Lal Jalalpur staged a similar protest in Patiala.
Singh further alleged that the government is even using gangsters to instill fear among candidates, calling it a grave assault on democracy. In several parts of Punjab, he added, opposition candidates are being obstructed from filing nominations by various means. Pargat Singh demanded that the Election Commission ensure complete videography of the entire election process, including not only the filing of nomination papers but also the polling phase, to guarantee transparency.
He also called on the Election Commission to instruct Deputy Commissioners and Returning Officers not to arbitrarily or illegally reject nomination papers submitted by opposition candidates.