Punjab BJP chief writes to Governor, accuses CM of 'political espionage'

Chandigarh, April 10 (IANS) Punjab BJP President Sunil Kumar Jakhar on Thursday wrote a letter to Governor Gulab Chand Kataria, raising questions over what he described as a grave constitutional breach and institutional abuse by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

Jakhar accused the Chief Minister of misusing the state’s intelligence apparatus for political espionage, following the CM’s on-record statement in the Punjab Legislative Assembly where he declared: “Main sarkar vich haan, mere kol intelligence hai (I am in the government, and I have an Intelligence portfolio).”

Jakhar said this was not a stray remark but a public admission of deploying the state intelligence network for surveillance on political rivals -- a serious subversion of democratic norms and institutional propriety.

The BJP leader pointed out that soon after this statement, the Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence), R.K. Jaiswal, was abruptly transferred.

“This cannot be dismissed as coincidence,” Jakhar pointed out in his letter.

“Was he removed for refusing to comply with political directives? Was he resisting pressure to turn the intelligence wing into a private tool of the ruling party?” the BJP leader wrote in the letter.

Jakhar also cited the grenade attack on the residence of senior BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia in Jalandhar on the night of April 7-8, calling it a chilling reminder of how the diversion of intelligence resources toward political spying can weaken the state’s ability to prevent real threats.

In the letter, Jakhar urged the Governor to order a high-level judicial or independent inquiry into the misuse of intelligence and the removal of the ADGP.

He also requested the Governor to refer the matter to the Central government or national investigative agencies, stating that Punjab’s status as a sensitive border state “makes this not just a state issue, but a matter of national security”.

Jakhar described the situation as “IntelGate Punjab”, saying this was not an isolated lapse but a dangerous and deliberate pattern of institutional capture for political ends.

--IANS

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