Punjab Political Storm: BJP Accuses CM Bhagwant Mann, Wife Of Multi-Crore Extortion Plot

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, accusing Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, his wife Dr Gurpreet Kaur Mann, and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of operating what it described as an institutionalized extortion and corruption network involving middlemen allegedly used to settle rape and other criminal cases in exchange for bribes of up to Rs 5 crore. BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari, addressing a press conference in New Delhi, dubbed the alleged arrangement AAP's "loot model" and called for an independent investigation into the claims.

Bhandari played purported audio recordings that he claimed showed a middleman discussing a rape case with a relative of an accused person, with references made during the conversation to the chief minister and his office. "The audio recordings that we are about to play for you and the evidence that has come before us point to the fact that within Punjab, Bhagwant Mann is running a new extortion racket and a new corruption racket. Inside this corruption racket, he and his wife, through middlemen and intermediaries, are facing allegations of taking bribes of up to 5 crore rupees each to quash cases, including legitimate rape cases," Bhandari alleged. He further questioned whether Mann's official residence had "become a place where deals are struck," and suggested that proceeds from such alleged arrangements were reaching Kejriwal, whom he referred to as Punjab's "Super Chief Minister."

Notably, Bhandari did not present evidence conclusively establishing that the voices in the recordings belonged to the individuals he named, nor did he provide direct proof that any money had actually changed hands. The allegations arrive against the backdrop of an ongoing inquiry ordered by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which on August 21 directed the Punjab chief secretary and the state's director general of police to investigate a complaint alleging that Gurpreet Kaur had demanded Rs 5 crore to have a rape case quashed. The NHRC has asked authorities to submit an Action Taken Report within two weeks of its order, a process that remains underway as the fresh political allegations add further public pressure on the state government to respond.

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Earlier the same day, a separate political front opened when a high-level delegation from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), led by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, met Punjab Governor Gulab Singh Kataria at Lok Bhawan in Chandigarh to demand a high-level Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into alleged corruption within the Chief Minister's Office and claimed attempts to protect a rape accused. The delegation, which also included senior SAD leaders Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, Bikram Singh Majithia, Daljit Singh Cheema and Sikandar Singh Maluka, submitted a 300-page dossier along with supporting documents to the Governor in support of its allegations.

Addressing reporters after the meeting, Badal framed the issue starkly, urging media outlets to give the matter prominent coverage and suggesting that failure to do so would indicate support for the accused rather than victims. The Aam Aadmi Party had not issued an immediate formal response to the BJP's allegations at the time of the press conference, though the party has previously dismissed similar corruption claims from opposition parties as politically motivated attacks. Given that the underlying allegations remain the subject of an active NHRC-directed inquiry and have not been independently verified or adjudicated by any court or investigative body, the claims made by both the BJP and the SAD should be understood as unproven political accusations rather than established findings, pending the outcome of the ongoing state-level investigation.

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