AAP has a taste of its own medicine in Punjab: Candidates grow wary of cameras as voters confront them

In Punjab villages, the BJP candidates, especially, have been facing organised opposition from farmer union activists. The BJP-ruled Centre and farmers in Punjab have been at loggerheads ever since the introduction of the now-repealed farm laws of 2020. Though not at the same scale, the ruling AAP leaders have not been spared entirely, either. Latching on to the opportunity, the Congress has been sharing videos of the BJP and AAP candidates being put on the spot during their campaign trails.

The Congress has recently shared a video on its Facebook page showcasing the heavy security arrangements made for the AAP’s election meeting in the Maluka village of Bathinda. Farmer union activists have set up a camp nearby to ask questions to the AAP’s Faridkot candidate, Karamjit Anmol.

In another video from the Doad village in Faridkot, Anmol was seen approaching protesting farmers who asked him to remove police barricades installed to keep them away. At another village, a woman asked Anmol and Rampuraphul AAP MLA Balkar Sindhu about Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s promise of Rs 1,000 per month to women. Another meeting held by Anmol near Jairo captured on camera showed a commotion as people attempted to ask questions.

Theka Mulajam Sangarsh Morcha, a group of contracted government employees, has also uploaded a video of a heated exchange between AAP minister Chetan Singh Jaura Majra and its members over their demands to regularise their jobs.

A video of Khuddian’s son Ameet Singh being questioned over crop damage compensation has also gone viral. It showed the farmers reminding him of a famous line uttered by Mann in 2017 to justify alleged offensive behaviour by voters to the members of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP coalition coalition that ruled the state. Mann had said, “Dla to Dla Hota hai, Jane Khana Se Chla Hota Hai,” which can be roughly translated to “nobody can be blamed for a pelted stone.”

After such repeated confrontations, Khuddian, who is usually approachable, has been cautious and has asked the public not to take videos, saying he is ready to listen to them anyway.

Dhaliwal was seen more aggressive in shutting down the camera when a resident of Kot Khalsa Amritsar requested him to bring Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh back to Punjab jails. “You can punish them for the mistake they committed in Ajnala, but you must transfer them to Punjab jails,” Bakhsish Singh told the minister.

Radical Sikh preacher Amritpal was arrested in April last year and the stringent National Security Act was invoked against him. He and nine associates are currently lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam.

A woman also stopped Dhaliwal during the campaign and sought the release of Amritpal and his mother, Balwinder Kaur, from jail. Dhaliwal responded, “I am with you. I will raise my voice.”

Amritpal’s mother was arrested last week, a day before a march was to be taken out in Amritsar to demand his shifting from the prison in Assam to Punjab.

The AAP candidate from Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurpreet Singh G P, a Congress turncoat, has also been facing questions from the public and the party workers. “We are with you. We are with the party. But it shouldn’t be the case that you may not return to the constituency after winning elections. Sitting Congress MP Amar Singh stayed away,” a group of AAP workers were heard saying to Gurpreet.