AAP MLA Harmit Singh Pathanmajra says security withdrawn, day after he slammed irrigation secy, govt

AAP legislator from Sanour Harmit Singh Pathanmajra Monday claimed that his security cover of 12 personnel has been withdrawn and the station house officers in his constituency replaced, a day after he accused a senior IAS officer of not taking action such as desilting and cleaning rivers, particularly the Tangri river, despite his requests and said the state government should listen to people or they “will thrash us”.

“I knew it beforehand. I told these personnel yesterday that they should prepare. (AAP) Delhi leaders think they can scare me…I want to tell the CM that all MLAs are with you. If you do not listen to me today, then it will be too late. I have been a soldier of the party. They are dictators. Instead of replacing the officers, they are taking action against the MLAs. They want to send a message to all the MLAs by doing this to me,” he said.

Pathanmajra further said that on the directions of the party’s Delhi leadership, Punjab Vigilance Bureau may book him for speaking against his own government.

Th MLA, whose constituency borders Tangri, Sunday visited the Tangri river to assess the situation after floodwaters entered a 1-kilometre area in Sanour. The AAP leader slammed CM Bhagwant Mann and Krishan Kumar, Principal Secretary, Water Resources, accusing them of neglecting his constituency. “How is it that Krishan Kumar is heard, but MLAs are not? CM Mann will have to think. If we continue to listen to officers in cities, the state will be submerged. If the CM listens to MLAs more than officers, then this situation will not arise,” he said, pointing towards the flood waters in his constituency.

“I will stand by my people. If I do not amplify their voice, then I am at fault. If I say this is not the government’s fault, then these people will throw me in the river… I will also raise this in Vidhan Sabha,” he added. The AAP MLA said he was elected twice by the people of Sanour in 2017 and 2022. “I have not been able to do anything. If they do something, then I will praise the government. When they have not done anything, then why should I praise them? Other MLAs are also restive, but they do not speak… I will speak,” he said.

“I am speaking against the government. They will either suspend me or expel me from the party. I do not care. The public is with me. People have voted for us. They have not voted for Krishan Kumar. We can only save the people of Punjab by listening to the MLAs. Otherwise, people will beat us with shoes. The chief minister will have to think about it. Majha is submerged. Punjab is submerged.”

‘You have destroyed Majha, Punjab’

Expressing his resentment against IAS officer Kumar said he will not seek permission to desilt the river next time. “We will do the silting on our own. We will widen it and deepen the bed of the Tangri River. If Krishan Kumar comes, then we will bury him in a ditch.”

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The MLA said there is no ban on lifting silt from rivers in Haryana. “Here, he always scares us that the Centre is after us. They will book us. I say let the Centre get a case registered against me. There are already 20 cases registered against me. They cannot hang me. If I have to go to jail, then I will go.”

The MLA said that he had got Rs 19 crore sanctioned for the desilting of the Tangri River. “Then the file went to Kumar. He said, ‘Get this done from MGNREGA’. I don’t know why he said that.”

Continuing with his criticism of Kumar, Pathanmajra said he called the senior officer on Saturday, “He did not answer my call. Then I called up the CMR. Then I got a call. I asked him to put this silt in a bowl and consume it. He asked me what his fault was. I told him it is your fault. You have destroyed Majha, you have destroyed Punjab. He did not allow us to do silting from the river bed.”

While no party leader was willing to come on record on the issues stating that there was no party line yet, an AAP Leader said off-the-record that this was not the time to blame anyone. “This is the time to fight against the natural calamity and not put anyone in the dock. This is the time to help people, to provide them relief and rescue them. If we are faced with a situation like floods, our response should be to fight unitedly rather than picking on each other,” the leader said. Pathanmajra, meanwhile, said he will not buckle under pressure, and will not delete the video in which he can be heard slamming the AAP government.

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“If they want to throw me out of the party, they can. I am with the people of my constituency. If I do not amplify their voice, they will not let me enter this area. If I listen to them today and get after Krishan Kumar, then I can save my people and save my state,” he said.

“Only a year and a quarter is left. People will not let us enter their villages. Do you think any MLA will not face any action speaking like this? I am not scared. Baba Buddha Sahib will protect me. These people are with me. Whatever is destined for me will happen. No one can harm me.”

Taking another dig at Maan, he said, “The CM is my relative. This makes people more upset with me. The road going to the chief minister’s in-laws’ house is also broken. They will ask me what I did for the constituency. If I am the captain of this area, then I will have to think. The CM is also the captain of the government. He, too, has to think. If he does something, we are with him.” Punjab CM’s wife, Dr Gurpreet Kaur, is related to him.

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