Congress, SAD accuse AAP of 'manipulating' Punjab poll nominations

The nomination process for the upcoming Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections in Punjab has drawn sharp scrutiny and criticism after widespread accounts of disturbances, intimidation, and alleged misuse of police authority surfaced. These developments have triggered political uproar, court intervention, and calls for impartial investigations, casting doubt on the integrity of the local elections scheduled for 14 December.

Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday, 5 December, seeking an extension of the nomination deadline, which expired on Thursday. He accused state officials and local authorities of enabling — if not directly facilitating — incidents in which nomination papers were torn apart, snatched, or deliberately destroyed, preventing numerous candidates from filing their papers.

In his petition, Bajwa cited multiple cases where candidates were allegedly detained without cause, physically confronted, or obstructed from reaching filing centres. “Videos and photographs clearly show individuals fleeing with nomination papers, violent clashes, and officials nowhere to be seen,” Bajwa stated in his plea. He urged the court to direct the State Election Commission to extend the last date and introduce an independent monitoring mechanism or deploy neutral observers to protect the fairness and peaceful conduct of the polls.

The most contentious element of the petition was Bajwa’s demand for a Central agency probe into the conduct of Patiala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Varun Sharma. An alleged audio recording has emerged that purportedly captures Sharma instructing personnel to disrupt the nomination process, raising troubling questions about police impartiality.

“If the very force entrusted with safeguarding the democratic process misuses its power to obstruct opposition candidates, it will shatter public faith in democracy,” Bajwa warned.

The high court accepted an oral mention of the petition and listed the hearing for 8 December.

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring issued a sharp rebuke to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), accusing it of creating an atmosphere of lawlessness by relying on gangsters to influence election outcomes. Invoking AAP strategist Manish Sisodia’s well-known “saam, daam, dand, bhed” formula — suggesting a blend of persuasion, coercion, punishment, and subversion — Warring alleged that similar tactics were used during the nomination process to intimidate Congress candidates.

“We will neither forget nor forgive police officers who have reduced themselves to AAP’s yes men,” Warring declared. He claimed Congress candidates were systematically targeted and blocked, and demanded a probe into the alleged audio of SSP Sharma, calling it further evidence of the police’s “capitulation” to political power. He dismissed AAP’s claims of clean governance, pointing to its dubious links with convicted gangsters during recent by-elections.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema echoed these concerns, accusing the AAP government of conspiring to nullify SAD candidates’ nominations. Expressing deep mistrust in the State Election Commission’s neutrality, Cheema too sought the removal of SSP Sharma, highlighting the gravity of the allegations.

State election commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhari acknowledged the ongoing controversy, confirming that the commission had sought a detailed report from Punjab’s director-general of police (DGP). Patiala DIG Kuldeep Chahal dismissed the audio clip as fake, claiming it was artificially generated, and said an FIR had been registered against those responsible for creating it.

“The nomination process has been incident-free across most districts,” Chaudhari told reporters, while conceding that Patiala district reported isolated disturbances, including instances of individuals fleeing with nomination papers and clashes between workers of different parties.

Acting on Chaudhari’s directions, the DGP has tasked ADGP S.P.S. Parmar with probing the recording and associated allegations.

These developments unfold at a crucial moment as Punjab prepares for decentralised elections aimed at empowering local governance structures. With 1,865 nominations filed for 22 Zila Parishads and 12,359 for 153 Panchayat Samitis, the electoral exercise is significant in scale. However, allegations of coercion and apparent police partisanship threaten to tarnish the credibility of what should be a foundational democratic process.

Public trust now rests heavily on authorities ensuring transparency and upholding democratic norms. The petitions and political reactions from the Congress and SAD underscore widespread fears that electoral manipulation and intimidation could distort the outcomes of these grassroots elections.