Claim law & order is deteriorating rapidly in state in wake of the sacrilege incident
Chandigarh : Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today demanded the imposition of President’s rule in Punjab contending that the state government has failed to tackle the law and order situation, which was deteriorating fast and spiraling out of control in the wake of a recent incident of the desecration of the holy book of the Sikhs.
Congress and AAP delegations met Governor Katpan Singh Solanki separately urging him to immediately impose the President’s rule in the state.
Congress Legislature Party leader Sunil Jakhar, who led a delegation of party MLAs, met the Governor and said, “As the fast deteriorating conditions were spiralling out of control, any delay (in imposition of President’s rule) could have grave consequences.”
Jakhar said if the government had taken timely action in apprehending the culprits responsible for desecrating the holy book in village Bagrari, such an unrest that Punjab was facing today would not had taken place.
“The conditions are getting from bad to worse with each passing day. The Punjab government seems to have been paralysed and is incapable of bringing the situation under control. With the kind of volatile situation prevailing in Punjab, any small incident could snowball into a major catastrophe,” the CLP leader said in his memorandum submitted to the Governor.
Now, the onus is on the central government to take timely action, he said.
Later, an AAP delegation, led by its state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann and others, also met Solanki and submitted a memorandum demanding the imposition of President’s rule in the state.
Chhotepur said the situation in Punjab was out of control for Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the only way left was to impose President’s rule in the state.
Punjab is under turmoil after a series of incidents of sacrilege of ‘birs’ (scriptures) of Guru Granth Sahib at different gurudwaras in villages and protests by sikh activists, including hardliners.
Police had yesterday arrested two ‘granthis’ (sikh priests) and a woman in connection with sacrilege incidents at a village in Amritsar and Ludhiana district.
