Condemning the move of Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit to withdraw his assent to hold a special session of the state Assembly, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, on Thursday, dubbed it as a ‘Black Day’ in the history of Indian politics.
Addressing a press conference here, Cheema said the way the Punjab Governor acted on the directions of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and withdrew the permission for the special session indicates that the BJP is trying to crush the country’s Constitution and the institutions premised on the beliefs of Dr BR Ambedkar.
Accusing the governor of working at the behest of the BJP, the AAP leader said that the Governor sought permission from the Additional Solicitor General of India after ignoring the Advocate General (AG) Office of Punjab and withdrew his earlier order.
Cheema said that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led AAP government is following the Constitution of India in letter and spirit. The AAP will not bend before the BJP as the Congress did.
“The Punjab government has called the Assembly Session on September 27 to protect democracy and the Constitution. During this session, the issues of electricity and stubble burning will be discussed,” the Minister said.
Attacking the Congress for skipping Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh states during its ‘Bharat Jodo’ campaign, Cheema said that they have surrendered before the BJP and are working as their spokespersons to avoid investigations by the central agencies.
Cheema said that the BJP is frightened of the growing popularity of AAP and they have now accepted the fact that only the Arvind Kejriwal led AAP is going to shake their regime in the 2024 elections.
“It is proved beyond doubt that today that the BJP is only scared of AAP. They somehow want to halt the progress of the party. But I want to reiterate that the BJP will never be successful in its dastardly agenda and soldiers of Arvind Kejriwal will continue to work for the betterment of the country,” Cheema said.
He said that Congress leaders including Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa are working as a B-Team of the BJP. Instead of supporting the AAP government, which is fighting against their nefarious agenda of ‘Lotus Operation,’ the Congress leadership is relentlessly supporting the BJP on this issue and questioning the state government.
He said that the AAP is a party of people for the people, which has come out of the anti-corruption movement.
“We will fight against them and will work to make the country number one again. Democracy belongs to the people, democracy is not owned by any party or person,” Cheema added.