State govt ‘sleeping’ as law and order collapses in Punjab: Anurag Thakur

PTI, Mar 4, 2023, 4:05 PM IST

Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday attacked the AAP dispensation in Punjab, saying law and order ”collapsed” in the state after the formation of ”one government”, and suggested it ”wakes up” and takes some steps.

His remarks come in the backdrop of the last month Ajnala incident in which self-styled Sikh preacher and Khalistani sympathiser Amritpal Singh and his supporters, carrying swords and guns, clashed with police for the release of one of his aide.

In Delhi, they say the police should be handed over to them, ”what have they done to the police (here in Punjab)”, the BJP leader and information and broadcasting minister said without naming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or its government in the state and in the national capital.

Law and order situation has ”collapsed” in the state in the last one year, Thakur, who was here to launch the ‘Yuva Utsava-India@2047’, told reporters.

”What has happened to Punjab’s situation in the last one year? The incidents which took place here, what do they indicate,” Thakur asked.

”The Punjab Police used to be discussed throughout the country and today, what this discussion has now turned into. Who is responsible for this?” he asked.

The Union minister wondered if the law and order situation of a state ”breaks down too soon with the formation of one government”.

To another question, Thakur said law and order is the responsibility of the state government. ”I hope that this sleeping government wakes up and its honeymoon (period) is over. It should now wake up and should take some steps,” he said The Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab is facing flak from opposition parties, including the BJP, over the Ajnala incident and a clash between gangsters in Tarn Taran jail that resulted in the death of two criminals held in connection with singer Sidhu Moosewala murder case.

However, Mann, who holds the home affairs portfolio, had earlier said that his government would maintain law and order and no one will be allowed to disturb its hard earned peace.

The BJP has also targeted the AAP government, demanding governor’s rule in the state.