Chandigarh: The Congress and the BJP have filed complaints with the Election Commission (EC), alleging that Punjab’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) broke the poll panel’s rules by deputing MLAs from outside Jalandhar to manage booths during the bypoll Wednesday for the Lok Sabha seat.
Baba Bakala MLA Dalbir Singh Tong of the AAP was arrested following a complaint to the EC by Congress workers who claimed to have caught him in Jalandhar — an incident purportedly caught on camera. He was later released on bail.
The Punjab government has denied the allegations.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said in a statement that several AAP leaders openly violated EC guidelines that restrict leaders of other constituencies from election duty in poll-bound constituencies.
Warring said the Punjab government deployed its leaders and their patrolling vehicles for the Jalandhar byelections, adding that it was unlawful.
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, he said, had filed a complaint against several AAP MLAs — Tong, Jasbir Singh Sandhu of Amritsar (West), Daljit Singh Grewal Bhola of Ludhiana (East), Gurpreet Gogi of Ludhiana (West), Amolak Singh of Jaitu, and Ajay Gupta of Amritsar (Central) — for “being present in the Jalandhar constituency despite EC guidelines”.
The state head of the BJP, Ashwani Sharma, has asked the EC to take necessary action against the AAP for “violating EC guidelines”.
Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has also criticised the government for bringing in outsiders to man their booths.
SAD legal cell incharge and national spokesperson Arshdeep Singh Kler said the fact that so many outsiders belonging to the ruling party “have managed to enter the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency after the end of the campaigning showed the poor functioning of the chief electoral officer of Punjab”
Reacting to the allegations, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema told ANI that no MLA of their party was in Jalandhar.
“All of them were away from the poll-bound constituency,” he said, adding that the photographs and video footage being shown by the Opposition “could be old, of earlier elections or while they were campaigning in the area”.
Viral videos
At multiple places in Jalandhar, Opposition workers reportedly forced outsiders — including AAP MLAs — to leave the booths.
In one video on social media, MLA Dalbir Singh Tong is seen being forced by Congress workers to turn back his official vehicle when he tries to purportedly enter Jalandhar escorted by police vehicles Wednesday morning.
Punjab-based social activist Manik Goyal compiled a thread of tweets with pictures of several AAP leaders — including MLAs — from outside Jalandhar allegedly manning booths in the constituency.
There has been a gross misuse of government machinery by the @AAPPunjab in the Jalandhar bypoll.
Outsiders have been sitting as "Booth Agents" on each and every election booth, which is a violation of election regulations. The Election Commission appears to be inactive on this… pic.twitter.com/SInAiNLrII
— Manik Goyal (@ManikGoyal_) May 10, 2023
A purported video of Daljit Singh Grewal Bhola being forced to get off a bike while he was moving about in Jalandhar has gone viral.
Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira tweeted that the incident had exposed the AAP’s “goondagardi”.