CHANDIGARH: Congress MLA and former Punjab minister Pargat Singh has launched a sharp attack on the Bhagwant Mann government, accusing it of relying on police deployment rather than addressing questions and grievances being raised by villagers.
In a post on social media, Pargat Singh described the situation as a “Police State” and questioned why the government appeared so concerned about villagers protesting or raising questions. He sarcastically remarked that if Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was afraid of questions from villagers, he should “open a chicken farm” instead.
Pargat alleged that the government was deploying police forces in numbers exceeding the population of some villages in an attempt to contain public anger. He argued that such measures could not silence people who were dissatisfied with the government’s performance.
The Congress MLA also accused the Aam Aadmi Party government of trying to rely on political rhetoric after what he described as five years of poor performance. His comments come amid a series of protests and confrontations between protesters and the Punjab administration.
There have been recent instances of heavy police action during demonstrations. On August 23, hundreds of Punjab government employees marching towards Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s native village Satauj in Sangrur were stopped by police using barricades and water cannons. The protesters were demanding restoration of the old pension scheme, release of pending dearness allowance and changes in probation and pay-related policies.
Pargat Singh’s latest remarks appear to build on his broader criticism that the Punjab government is increasingly treating protests as a law-and-order problem rather than engaging with protesters. He has previously criticised police action against unemployed youth protesting outside PSPCL offices in Patiala, describing the government’s approach as intimidation rather than dialogue.
In his latest post, Pargat invoked Punjab’s history of resistance, arguing that neither the Mughal rulers nor the British were able to suppress the voice of Punjabis. He contended that political parties currently in power would similarly be unable to permanently silence public dissent.
The Congress leader also directed a pointed political message at the AAP leadership, alleging that the party’s Punjab government was being influenced by leaders from Delhi. He said that the government’s political “accounts” would ultimately have to be answered in the villages themselves.
Pargat’s remarks are political allegations and criticism from an Opposition leader, rather than an independent finding that Punjab has formally become a “police state.” The government has previously defended police action at protests on grounds of maintaining law and order. In the August 23-24 Satauj episode, a senior police officer said water cannons were used after thousands of protesters breached multiple barricades and attempted to enter the village through different routes.
The confrontation nevertheless highlights a continuing political question in Punjab: when citizens protest, should the government’s first response be police deployment—or political dialogue? With Pargat Singh and other Opposition leaders increasingly making police action a central issue, the manner in which the Mann government handles public demonstrations could become an important political test ahead of the next electoral battle.