6 min readChandigarhJun 4, 2025 08:04 AM IST
First published on: Jun 3, 2025 at 09:14 PM IST
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Tuesday stirred up a row as he attacked the BJP over Operation Sindoor, accusing it of seeking votes in the name of ‘sindoor’ (vermillion) and asked if it had started a ‘one nation, one husband’ scheme. The BJP hit back accusing Mann of insulting the widows of those killed in the Pahalgam terror attack with his ‟cheap political commentary”.
Mann hit out at the BJP for allegedly seeking votes in the name of Operation Sindoor for the Ludhiana West assembly bypoll.
“BJP is seeking votes in the name of ‘sindoor’. They have made a mockery of ‘sindoor’. They are sending ‘sindoor’ to every home. Will you use it? Will you pass it on and say apply this ‘sindoor’ in (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi’s name? Is it a ‘one nation, one husband’ scheme?” Mann asked.
He was responding to a question from reporters while addressing media after chairing a Cabinet meeting.
The bypoll to Ludhiana West Assembly seat is slated for June 19 and the BJP was the last mainstream political party to announce its candidate for the seat that has turned into a battle of prestige for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party.
The BJP, meanwhile, slammed Mann for his remarks, with Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu saying the chief minister has “insulted” the widows of those killed in the Pahalgam attack with his “cheap political commentary” on a matter of sensitive national security.
“I never expected that Bhagwant Mann would stoop so low by mocking the widows of Pahalgam using the disgraceful phrase ‘one nation, one husband’,” Bittu said.
Accusing the AAP of politicizing the army’s brave actions and undermining the sacrifices of soldiers and their families, he said, “The Indian Army carried out a commendable operation. But the decision to give them the green signal was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a leader in whom the nation has complete faith”.
Bittu demanded an unconditional apology from Mann for his “crass” remarks. “You may be a former comedian, but that does not give you the right to mock the widows of martyrs or the valour of our armed forces,” Bittu said.
State Congress working president and the party candidate for Ludhiana West assembly bypoll Bharat Bhushan Ashu condemned the “communally insensitive and insulting remarks” by Mann and said ‘sindoor’ is not only women, but all Hindus across the country during puja and other religious occasions and is applied on Lord Hanuman’s idols.
“It has become a trend to make fun of and mock the Hindu customs and rituals and Mann has proved to be no exception”, Ashu said, adding CM should learn about Hindu customs and culture before making such ‟outrageous and blasphemous” remarks that has ‟hurt the sentiments of Hindus across the country”. Saying that such remarks are unacceptable, Ashu demanded that Ṁann must tender an unconditional apology.
Earlier in the day, when Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring was asked by reporters that the BJP is allegedly seeking votes in the name of Operation Sindoor, he said it should not happen that “the BJP starts distributing ‘sindoor’ door to door”, otherwise they will face the ire of Punjabi women.
Warring, who is also the Ludhiana MP, said, “It is the right of the husband of the woman and not that of BJP people that they go distributing sindoor. When women apply sindoor, they do it wishing the best for their husbands and for remaining ‘suhagan’ always. Bittu ji please be careful, because you do things like this only, and you may venture out with sindoor”.
Responding to warring, Bittu said it was a shame that the widows of Pahalgam attack were being mocked by the Congress leader.
“Our mothers and sisters lost their husbands in Pahalgam when they were shot dead right before them and their sindoor was snatched away by Pakistanis forever. These people are doing politics in the name of sindoor,” Bittu said.
BJP spokesperson Pritpal Singh Balliawal, in a post on X, said, ‟There is no BJP activity sending sindoor to every household. The term Operation Sindoor was used because terrorists were killing Hindu men after checking their religion –? sindoor was a marker they used to identify women”.
“This operation was about terrorism, martyrdom, and the protection of Indian lives. But how would Bhagwant Mann, a man with zero sensitivity, understand that? A man who mocks the Indian Army, insults Veer Naris, turns every sacred symbol into a joke…such a person will never understand the value of sindoor, which carries sacrifice, love. This isn’t humour,” said Balliawal, adding that the CM has insulted insulted ‟every soldier’s widow, every grieving wife, and the spirit of Bharat” and must resign immediately and apologise to the nation.
Under Operation Sindoor, the Indian armed forces had carried out strikes on May 7 on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba’s base in Muridke, in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
Mann hit out at the BJP for allegedly seeking votes in the name of Operation Sindoor for the Ludhiana West assembly bypoll. (X) 
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