The BJP is planning a demonstration at the Punjab assembly during its Budget Session on March 9 against the "deteriorating" law and order situation in the state, senior party leader Ashwani Sharma said on Tuesday.
He also alleged that since the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government has come to power in the state, forces that want to weaken brotherhood and indulge in a divisive agenda are again raising their heads.
"These forces, who are talking of breaking Punjab, are using social media and other platforms, but the government is sitting in silence," the BJP's Punjab unit chief said.
He also mentioned last month's incident in Amritsar's Ajnala in which self-styled Sikh preacher and Khalistani sympathiser Amritpal Singh and his supporters, carrying swords and guns, clashed with police for the release of one of his aides.
Sharma alleged inaction on part of authorities in the incident.
"Even during the terrorism period in Punjab, it was not seen that seige is laid on a police station and policemen find themselves in a helpless situation," he said, while adding that even a fortnight after the incident, no FIR has been registered.
There is no rule of law and criminals are roaming freely, the BJP leader claimed. Gangsters are calling shots and even jails are not safe, he alleged.
Gangsters are fighting "deadly battles with each other even in jails" and are openly making videos inside prisons, Sharma said "Today, the morale of Punjab's brave police and Punjabis, who faced terrorism firmly, is completely broken. The law and order situation is continuously deteriorating in the entire state," the Punjab BJP chief said. Hitting out at the state government, he said it says it is keeping an eye on the situation, but then "why it does not take any action". "On March 9, we will move from the party office here to gherao the Vidhan Sabha so that this government wakes up from its slumber," Sharma said. He said he has already written to Chief Minister Mann and sought the convening of an all-party meeting to discuss the "deteriorating" law and order situation in the state.
Asked about singer Sidhu Moosewala's father demanding a CBI probe into his son's killing, the BJP leader said the state government should recommend it if the family so desires.
On Congress MLAs, during the state assembly session on Monday, objecting to Mann's "pointing a finger" at them and demanding he apologise for the "threatening gesture".
"The House is for a healthy discussions. The chief minister, who is also Leader of the House, and the treasury benches have an added responsibility to ensure that the House runs in an orderly manner. But the ruling party wants to suppress the voice of opposition and the media too. Never before have we seen such behaviour by any CM and that too who has remained a Member of Parliament," said Sharma.
"It means that the chief minister is in no mood to listen to criticism," he said.
Notably, Mann and Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa were involved in a heated exchange of words in the Punjab assembly on Monday after the Congress leader raised questions on the functioning of the state vigilance bureau.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
