CHANDIGARH: A day after chief minister Bhagwant Mann insisted that no recruitment examination paper had leaked in Punjab during the AAP govt’s tenure, the opposition on Monday stepped up its attack over the alleged irregularities in the pharmacy officers’ recruitment examination.The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) sought a judicial probe, the BJP demanded a CBI inquiry, the Congress staged a protest outside Parliament and several organisations announced a morcha from Tuesday.Backing Mann, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said not a single paper leak had taken place during AAP’s 10 years in Delhi or five years in Punjab, accusing the BJP of trying to tarnish Punjab’s rise “from 27th to No. 1” in the country’s education rankings. “With no real issue against the Punjab govt, the BJP is resorting to lies,” he said.On Sunday, Mann had maintained that the pharmacy officers’ recruitment controversy was a case of high-tech cheating, not a paper leak, and said those involved had been arrested promptly.SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal alleged the chief minister’s version was contradicted by the FIR.“There is no mention of any scanner pen in the seizure memo. Only Bluetooth devices and headphones were recovered, indicating the paper had already been leakedand answers were relayed electronically,” she said, demanding a probe by a sitting Punjab and Haryana high court judge.BJP Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Chugh demanded a CBI probe. Congress MPs led by Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring staged a protest outside Parliament, accusing Mann of misleading the public.The Youth Akali Dal and Students Organisation of India also staged a protest at Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, demanding the resignation of education minister Harjot Singh Bains and health minister Balbir Singh over the July 19 examination.
