Chandigarh: Reacting to the Punjab and Haryana high court order directing the CBI to probe corruption allegations linked to the Punjab chief minister’s office, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday accused the BJP of using central agencies to target chief minister Bhagwant Mann ahead of assembly elections.Minister Aman Arora said the Punjab govt would challenge the Punjab and Haryana high court order in Supreme Court.AAP spokesperson Baltej Singh Pannu alleged that the CBI and ED action against the Bhagwant Mann govt was part of the pattern of using central agencies to target elected govts before elections, as witnessed in Delhi, and asserted that the BJP had failed to find anything against the CM.“The BJP is conspiring to defame CM Mann before the elections. The party cannot fight the Punjab chief minister politically and is therefore attempting to target him through back channels. The CBI-ED action against the Punjab govt team is part of the same pattern of targeting elected govts ahead of elections, as has happened in Delhi,” Pannu said.He added that despite the Centre withholding Punjab’s funds, including those related to flood relief, the state govt had managed its resources efficiently and continued delivering public welfare.He said the Centre’s concern was that as long as Punjab’s people continued receiving these benefits, the political narrative being attempted against the Bhagwant Mann govt would not succeed.
