It’s been 10 days since the result for the Tarn Taran Assembly bypoll in Punjab was declared. But the dust raised by the election is yet to settle. Having won the seat, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is battling charges of highhandedness by the state police against Akali Dal leaders, including after the results.
On Tuesday, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav appeared before the Election Commission in person, to explain the registration of multiple FIRs against Akali Dal workers during the by-election.
The EC has taken serious note of the FIRs registered in a “coordinated manner” across four districts – Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Moga and Batala – during the bypoll, calling these potentially “motivated” attempts to intimidate Opposition workers and influence the by-election outcome.
According to Tajinder Singh Midhukhera, Akali Dal senior vice-president, “At least eight of our leaders were arrested and hundreds are still on the run… I haven’t seen such political oppression in my life. The vendetta continues even after the election. The AAP knows it can’t win Punjab in 2027, so they want to break the morale of our party and workers.”
Midhukhera gives the example of party leader Balwinder Singh, whose wife is a former sarpanch of Buchar Kalan in the Tarn Taran Assembly segment. After Balwinder had made some remarks against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during his roadshow for AAP bypoll candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu, Balwinder’s name was added to a case of arms-smuggling, which had been originally registered in September.
Midhukhera says Balwinder got bail on November 17, but was named the same day in another case and kept behind bars. “We don’t even know in which case he has been named now.”
Another Akali Dal leader who was arrested was Varinder Singh alias Sonu, the sarpanch of village Dode in Tarn Taran district. He was named too in an old FIR, dating to October 4, over an alleged case of ransom demand and firing. Varinder, who was arrested on November 7, secured bail after pleading he had been falsely implicated.
Midhukhera says that while Varinder was in jail, another case of “physical interference with the election duty of government officials” was registered against him. “The court stayed his arrest in this case.”
He also gives the example of “three cases” against Kanchanpreet Kaur, the daughter of Akali Dal bypoll candidate Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa; and the arrest of the Akali Dal IT cell in-charge, Nashattar Singh. “The Punjab and Haryana High Court termed Nashattar’s custody illegal and granted him bail,” Midhukhera says.
On November 11, the same day as voting for the bypoll, cases were registered against several Akali Dal leaders for allegedly trying to influence voting.
Criticising the action against his leaders, Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal wrote on X on November 12: “On the orders of Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police first broke every law to steal victory for Aam Aadmi Party in the Tarn Taran by-election, and even now, fake cases are being registered on Akali Dal leaders & workers. I ask the Chief Minister and DGP Punjab Police: Has Punjab been declared a police state, with all laws and citizens’ rights suspended?”
Badal followed this up with a complaint to the Chief Election Commissioner on November 17, saying the Model Code of Conduct was still in force when the Punjab Police had registered an FIR against one of its workers in Tarn Taran on November 15.
Refusing to come on record, a senior police officer denied indiscriminate action against Akali leaders. “The cases have no link with the Tarn Taran by-election. These are routine crime cases and action is being taken on merit,” the officer said.
At the same time, discontent is brewing in police ranks over finding themselves at the receiving end of action. Sources point out that many of the suspensions have followed the perceived “inaction” in arresting Kanchanpreet, the daughter of Akali SAD candidate from Tarn Taran Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa.
Apart from the summons to the DGP by the poll panel, Maninder Singh was suspended as SSP, Amritsar Rural, as was Tarn Taran SSP Dr Ravjot Grewal, while there were CBI raids against former Ropar Range DIG H S Bhullar, leading allegedly to the recovery of a huge cache of gold, cash and other valuables. SSP Surinder Lamba, who took charge of Tarn Taran district a week after the suspension of Grewal, has proceeded on leave; senior police officers say his leave was planned.
Amritsar Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar held the charge of SSP Amritsar (Rural) for three days, before a regular SSP was appointed on November 18 by side-stepping Batala Sohail Qasim Mir as SSP (Amritsar).
An SSP-rank officer questioned the suspension of Maninder Singh and Grewal, and said the CBI raid on a DIG had left the force “very embarrassed”.
Earlier too, the Punjab Police has expressed concerns over action against its officers on the basis of “vague” allegations. “It seems officers are being suspended on a whim or in a momentary bout of anger. No wonder they are rehabilitated without a blemish a few months later,” said an officer.