Rahul Gandhi Orders Bhagwant Mann To Include Minister's Name In Suicide Case FIR

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab on Wednesday. The political escalation follows the tragic death by suicide of a 47-year-old Dalit villager who had publicly questioned State Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema regarding the unchecked availability of illicit drugs in the region. Gandhi strongly demanded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann immediately seek Cheema's resignation and initiate an independent, impartial investigation into the systemic pressures that drove the man to end his life.

The deceased, identified as Gulzar Singh, a daily-wage worker from the Dirba constituency in Sangrur district, died on Monday night after allegedly consuming pesticide. According to his family, Singh had attended a public event on September 6, where he confronted the Finance Minister about the unabated supply of synthetic narcotics, locally known as chitta, which had reportedly afflicted his own son. Following the public confrontation, Singh was allegedly subjected to severe intimidation, relentless harassment, and casteist slurs by local administration elements and panchayat leaders who desperately pressured him to issue a formal apology.

Expressing deep outrage over the incident in a social media post on X, Gandhi alleged that a "dangerous pattern" is actively emerging under the AAP administration in Punjab. He claimed that citizens who dare to question the government's governance failures are routinely met with official threats, public humiliation, and targeted torture. Gandhi further stated that the grieving father was pressured so intensely to apologize for simply asking why the state had failed so miserably in stopping the drug trade that he felt compelled to consume poison. 

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The controversy has triggered a massive political storm across Punjab, drawing sharp condemnation from both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who accuse the ruling government of state-sponsored intimidation. In a purported video recorded during his final moments, Singh explicitly held the Finance Minister and the local village sarpanch responsible for his extreme step. In response to the growing public outcry and escalating demonstrations by the state Congress body, the Punjab Police has registered an FIR against five villagers for abetment of suicide under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the SC/ST Act.

To oversee the sensitive case, the Punjab government has constituted a high-level Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by an Additional Director General of Police (ADGP). Concurrently, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken formal cognisance of the matter, issuing strict notices to Punjab’s top administrative and law enforcement officials to submit all forensic and video evidence. As regional tensions mount ahead of upcoming local elections, Gandhi reiterated that a democratic government's fundamental duty is to answer to its people, rather than violently trampling upon the vulnerable communities seeking governance accountability. 

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