Punjab Congress Lecturing BJP On Democracy, Ironic: Ashwani Sharma

Chandigarh: The Congress party, which toppled the elected governments in Punjab seven times and imposed Governor’s Rule, now has its Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab assembly, Partap Bajwa, speculating that the BJP may impose Governor’s Rule — and this does not suit him, Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma said on Monday.

Reacting to Bajwa’s recent remarks that the BJP-led Centre was using the proposed Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill on Chandigarh as a deliberate tactic to provoke confrontation in Punjab and create conditions to impose Governor’s Rule in the state, Sharma said that Congress should stop pretending to be the protector of democracy, because its history in Punjab is filled with political manipulation, and destabilising the state.

Before pointing fingers at the BJP, they must look at the dark pages of their own decades-long rule. He said, “From 1951 to 1992, whenever Punjab faced turmoil, it was due to the Congress’s failed politics. Whether losing the majority, internal power struggles, or the Centre’s arbitrariness — every time, it was Congress that brought down Punjab’s elected governments. Today, having lost political ground, Congress is suddenly talking about democracy and state rights’’.

BJP leader Sharma further referred to the seven occasions when President’s Rule was imposed under Congress regimes, saying these were not due to natural or crises but were the result of Congress’ “political calculations” and “internal games.”

Sharma further held that issues like water, Chandigarh, and Centre-State relations are consequences of Congress’ long history of blunders. The party that could not solve these issues itself is now blaming the BJP and misleading people once again. But the past cannot be hidden under the carpet.