AAP Seeks Probe Into Viral Video, Accuses Akali Dal of Conspiracy Against Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann
Escalating its counter-offensive in the controversy surrounding the alleged viral video of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders on Thursday met Punjab Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Parveen Sinha and demanded strict action against those responsible for creating and circulating the video.
CHANDIGARH: Escalating its counter-offensive in the controversy surrounding the alleged viral video of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders on Thursday met Punjab Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Parveen Sinha and demanded strict action against those responsible for creating and circulating the video.
A delegation comprising Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Cabinet Minister Aman Arora and senior AAP leader Baltej Pannu submitted a memorandum to the police officer, seeking an investigation into the origins of the video that allegedly shows Mann disrespecting Sikh Gurus. The delegation also demanded legal action against the person appearing in the video, asserting that he was not the Chief Minister.
The controversy has dominated Punjab's political landscape after the Akal Takht declared the video genuine following forensic examination and subsequently pronounced Mann "anti-Panthic" and "Guru Dokhi." The Akal Takht's decree has triggered a sharp confrontation between Sikh religious authorities and the ruling AAP government, with Mann and his party rejecting the findings and maintaining that the Chief Minister does not appear in the footage.
AAP
Addressing the media after meeting the ADGP, Harpal Singh Cheema said the party had independently got the video examined by two separate forensic laboratories. According to Cheema, both reports concluded that the individual seen in the video was not Bhagwant Mann.
"The Akal Takht's forensic examination may have found the video itself to be genuine, but the crucial question is the identity of the person seen in it. Our forensic examinations have clearly established that the man in the video is not Bhagwant Mann," Cheema said.
The Finance Minister alleged that the entire episode was part of a political conspiracy orchestrated by the Shiromani Akali Dal to tarnish the image of the Chief Minister and mislead the people of Punjab.
Cheema claimed that Mann remained the most popular political leader in the state and that opposition parties were unable to challenge his government on issues of governance and development. "Unable to politically defeat Bhagwant Mann, certain forces have resorted to conspiracies and misinformation campaigns to defame him," he alleged.
Aman Arora and Baltej Pannu echoed similar views, demanding a thorough police investigation to identify those who filmed, edited and circulated the controversial footage. They urged law enforcement agencies to uncover the alleged conspiracy behind the video's dissemination and take action against all those involved.
Political conspiracy
The Finance Minister alleged that the entire episode was part of a political conspiracy orchestrated by the Shiromani Akali Dal to tarnish the image of the Chief Minister and mislead the people of Punjab.
The AAP leaders maintained that the controversy was being deliberately amplified for political gains and insisted that the truth regarding the identity of the individual in the video must be established through a fair and impartial investigation.
The latest move by the ruling party signals an intensification of the battle over the video controversy, which has already drawn in the Akal Takht, opposition parties and Sikh religious institutions. With both sides refusing to back down, the issue is set to remain at the centre of Punjab's political discourse in the coming weeks.
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