Warring Accuses Mann Govt of Using Gangsters, Police to Rig Elections

Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring has launched a scathing and unprecedented offensive against the Aam Aadmi Party-led government in Punjab, directly accusing Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s administration of systematically patronising notorious gangsters, fostering anarchy, and orchestrating widespread bloodshed purely to manipulate electoral outcomes and cling to power in the face of growing public discontent.

Warring alleged that the ruling dispensation has shamelessly embraced the infamous Machiavellian doctrine of “saam, daam, dand, bhed” – a phrase earlier associated with former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia – as its core governance and electoral strategy. According to the Congress leader, this approach has resulted in the complete subjugation of the state police apparatus, with senior officers ranging from Superintendents of Police to Station House Officers being reduced to mere “yes-men” who unquestioningly carry out the political bidding of the ruling party, thereby compromising the impartiality and integrity of law enforcement across Punjab.

In an unmistakable warning delivered with unmistakable resolve, Warring declared that the Congress will “neither forget nor forgive” the actions of these officers who have allegedly become active participants in electoral malpractices. He categorically stated that every official found complicit – whether through intimidation of opposition candidates, manipulation of nomination processes, or shielding criminal elements for political gain – will be held strictly accountable under the law the moment a new government assumes office, sending a clear message that impunity for partisan policing will no longer be tolerated.

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The Congress state president asserted that the AAP government’s desperate attempts to postpone Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections for years exposed its mortal fear of facing the electorate, and it was only sustained judicial intervention that eventually compelled the administration to notify the polls. Warring provided detailed accounts from multiple districts illustrating how Congress candidates were systematically harassed, threatened, and physically prevented from reaching nomination centres, while those who succeeded in filing papers now live under the constant shadow of technical rejection during scrutiny, given the ruling party’s alleged stranglehold over returning officers and the entire election machinery.

Dismissing AAP’s repeated claims of being tough on crime and gangsters as hollow propaganda, Warring threw down a direct challenge, asking the ruling party to explain why one of Punjab’s most dreaded gangsters, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, was suddenly transferred from a high-security jail in Assam back to Punjab in the run-up to the Tarn Taran by-election. He vowed that the Congress, upon returning to power, will decisively end the dangerous nexus between politicians, police, and criminal networks that has plagued the state, ensuring that law enforcement serves the people rather than any political party.

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