New Delhi [India], May 3 : President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday granted time to BJP MP Raghav Chadha on May 5 over his request to apprise her of the alleged misuse of the Punjab Government's state machinery for political vendetta and targeted action against MPs who recently quit the Aam Aadmi Party and merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party, according to sources.
This comes after the trio of MPs - Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal - parted ways with the AAP last month and subsequently joined the BJP in the presence of party leadership. Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal had also switched to the BJP.
Notably, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is also scheduled to meet with President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 5.
The meeting, Mann described as a vital step in safeguarding the "mandate of the people of Punjab and the democratic values", comes after the CM sought a formal audience with the President.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Punjab Police filed two FIRs under sections for non-bailable offences against Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak. Both FIRs were filed in different districts of Punjab. The BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) have questioned the timing of the FIRs, calling it "political vendetta" against Pathak.
Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma accused the AAP government in the state of using the police to silence the opposition.
In an X post, Sharma wrote, "There is no law in Punjab; now, political vendetta is in effect. Bhagwant Mann and Kejriwal's fear exposed. The fact that a non-bailable FIR was registered against Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak ji in Punjab as soon as he left AAP and joined BJP clearly shows that Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann are using the police as a political weapon."
"This is not just one case--this is the politics of fear, panic and vendetta. Police were used to silence opposing voices earlier, too--the same is being repeated today. Non-bailable clauses, threats of immediate action are a shameful act of implementing a political agenda under the guise of law," the BJP leader added.
He accused Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of turning Punjab into a "police state."
"Bhagwant Mann's government is slowly transforming Punjab into a 'police state'--where dissent = case and truth = punishment. BJP Punjab will not tolerate this bullying and dictatorship. Those who build weapons against opponents of the law will be fought legally and democratically. We will not be afraid; we will not bow down," the post read.
Akali Dal General Secretary Bikram Singh Majithia accused AAP of "selectively targeting the fallouts."