Manish Sisodia (File photo/PTI)
CHANDIGARH: Opposition parties in Punjab have urged the Election Commission to take action against AAP and its Punjab in-charge, Manish Sisodia, over a social media video where he allegedly tells party workers that AAP would resort to “saam, daam, dand, bhed… ladai, jhagda” to win the 2027 assembly election. Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar has written to the Chief Election Commissioner to file an FIR against Sisodia, disqualify him from future elections and bar him from giving speeches. Shiromani Akali Dal has demanded that AAP be barred from contesting elections in Punjab. The AAP leadership, however, says Sisodia’s words have been taken out of context and that the clip is being used to misrepresent his speech. The video is purportedly from a speech Sisodia gave at an AAP women’s wing leadership training programme in Mohali on Aug 13. “2027 ki chunav jitwane ke liye saam, daam, dand, bhed, sach, jhoot, question-answer, ladai-jhagda, jo karna padega karenge. Taiyyaar hain? Josh ke saath? Bahut badhia (To win the 2027 elections, we will use all means necessary — truth, lies, questions, answers, fighting, and quarrelling. Whatever we have to do, we will do. Are you ready? With passion? Very good),” he purportedly says in the video. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP Punjab president Aman Arora were present during Sisodia’s speech, and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal had addressed the event virtually. An AAP politician told TOI that the “brief, one-minute video does not convey the full meaning or entire thought process” of what Sisodia was trying to communicate. “Ironically, the theme of the training programme was to prepare party workers to counter the very type of false propaganda that is now being spread via this clip. The address was part of an internal party meeting and was not livestreamed,” he said, suggesting that “someone recorded the video and edited this clip out of context”. The video has put Punjab politics on the boil, though. Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar accused Sisodia of openly advocating corrupt and violent practices to win the polls. On Saturday, he wrote to the CEC demanding an FIR against Sisodia, saying his words “clearly reveal AAP’s intent to undermine the democratic process”. “These statements amount to an open admission of intent to adopt corrupt practices, intimidate voters, spread enmity, and disturb public order in the state, thereby threatening the peace, development and prosperity of Punjab,” his letter claims. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal shared the clip on social media, and urged EC to take “strong notice of Sisodia’s highly provocative statements and get his bail cancelled”. “AAP’s cat has finally been let out of the bag. The mask has been removed from their faces. To remain in power in Punjab in 2027, AAP’s deceptions, lies, false promises, and cheap tactics — including riots, violence, and the game of money — have all been shamelessly and openly admitted by their Delhi-based leader, Manish Sisodia,” Sukhbir Singh Badal claimed. “In view of this brazen admission, AAP must be debarred in Punjab to save this sensitive border state from a repeat of the dangerous past. I also urge strict and prompt legal action against him (Sisodia) for inciting fraternal bloodshed in Punjab,” SAD president wrote. State Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring took a dig at Sisodia for “revealing your intentions and exposing your designs”. “Sisodia is miserably mistaken about Punjab and Punjabis. If he believes that AAP can win by resorting to the tactics he mentioned in his speech, he is living in a fool’s paradise. You can win over Punjabis with folded hands as you did in 2022 only Go to Source
