Chandigarh: A day after the AAP government in Punjab suspended two senior IAS officers for taking the “wrong decision” in dissolving gram panchayats across the state months before rural elections, the Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said the call was taken at the level of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar.
SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia made the claim in a video message issued Friday where he released a purported copy of a page from the notings file of the Rural Development and Panchayats Department. The chief minister, he said, had himself given the final nod for the decision to dissolve the over 13,000 gram panchayats in the state on 8 August.
“Cabinet minister Bhullar had first signed on the decision on 7 August and put up the file to the chief minister, who signed it the next day itself,” said Majithia, showing the signatures of the chief minister and minister on the notings file.
The decision was taken in a tearing hurry, he added.
The controversy centres on a notification issued by the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats on 10 August dissolving the gram panchayats, zila parishads and block samitis in Punjab, months ahead of elections to the bodies, which are due in November-December.
The two IAS officers suspended for the decision are Financial Commissioner Development D.K. Tiwari of the 1994 batch, and Rural Development and Panchayat Department director Gurpreet Singh Khaira of the 2009 batch.
According to Majithia, the first noting on the file regarding the decision to dissolve the panchayats is dated 3 August, by Khaira, who then sent the file to Tiwari. The latter, Majithia said, signed it and sent it to the minister for his approval on 4 August.
The 10 August notification had invited severe criticism from the Opposition, which alleged that the Mann government’s decision was politically motivated to score an advantage over other parties in the panchayat elections by taking over the working of the rural administration bodies.
After the move was challenged through multiple petitions in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the government Thursday told the court that it had decided to withdraw the notification and revoked its decision to dissolve the panchayats.
Tiwari and Khaira were placed under suspension with immediate effect the same day for taking a “technically flawed” decision. In a video message released Thursday evening, Bhullar held the officers responsible for taking the decision.
Bhullar said the government had dissolved the panchayats so that preparations for the elections could be made well within time, adding, “But the moment Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann came to know about the decision, he immediately revoked it and strict action was taken against the officers responsible for taking the decision.”
Majithia’s revelation has triggered a political storm in the state with both the Congress and the BJP joining in the chorus against Mann, demanding his resignation.
The government has not responded to the allegations. ThePrint tried to contact the chief minister and the minister through calls but there was no response.
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‘Killing democracy’
Leader of the Opposition in the assembly and senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa also posted a copy of the notings file on X (formerly Twitter), saying that it was “shameful” that the CM was trying to make a scapegoat of his officers when he was the one who had signed on the decision.
BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa demanded that Mann and Bhullar resign for signing on the decision to dissolve panchayats in Punjab.
Majithia asked why two officers were held responsible and suspended when the decision was taken at the level of the chief minister. He demanded that Aam Aadmi Party supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal dismiss Bhagwant Mann for “killing democracy” in the state.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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