Hooch case accused unanimously elected panch with AAP support in Punjab village, Opposition cries foul

Rashpal surrendered and secured bail after the formation of the AAP government in 2022. Gurpal has been facing two cases of smuggling illicit liquor. Both brothers influence a section of the Dalit population in the village that falls under the Patti Assembly constituency due to Rashpal’s Godman status. They joined the AAP during the general elections earlier this year.

“I have the support of the AAP and Cabinet minister and Patti MLA Laljit Singh Bhullar. I filed a nomination. No one else filed nominations against me. So I am elected unanimously,” said Gurpal.

Supported Congress in 2022

The Dhotian brothers supported Congress candidate and the then sitting Patti MLA Harmandir Gill in the 2022 Assembly elections. This was after Gurpal had briefly joined the SAD and later moved to the Congress.

The Congress could only get 159 votes from the booth where most of the followers of Rashpal and his brother Gurpal live. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) got 217 votes from the same polling booth, whereas the winning AAP candidate Bhullar got 273 votes from the booth.

Gurpal and Rashpal joined the AAP ahead of Parliament elections this year when Bhullar contested from Khadoor Sahib. To invite them to the AAP, Bhullar visited the Dhotian brothers at their house, which was attached by police in the hooch case.

Not only Gurpal, the entire Panchayat of the Dhotian village, including 11 panches and the sarpanch, was unanimously elected. The newly elected Sarpanch of Dhotian, Harjinder Singh, was booked by the Sairhali police for allegedly running a prostitution racket in 2021. However, Harjinder told The Indian Express that the FIR was later quashed.

Former sarpanch and former market committee chairman Paramjit Singh said, “There is no democracy. Either the Opposition was not allowed to file the nominations or the nominations were cancelled. There were goons sitting outside the nomination centre. They were tearing the files of the aspirants. All the panches and sarpanches were elected unanimously only after crushing our right to contest. The AAP needs the support of an accused booked for the hooch tragedy. It explains how afraid they are from contesting elections.”