CHANDIGARH, SEPT 15: What was meant to be a routine welcome for Sachin Pilot’s first visit as Punjab Congress in-charge transformed into a chaotic political battlefield on Tuesday, as hundreds of party workers clashed with Chandigarh police over the suicide of a Sangrur resident. The Congress party has unified its top leadership on a single platform to demand the immediate resignation and criminal prosecution of state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema.
The agitation stems from the death of 47-year-old Gulzar Singh, who reportedly faced severe intimidation and mental distress after publicly questioning Minister Cheema about the worsening drug epidemic destroying local youth, including his own son. According to Congress state president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Pilot chose to bypass all formal arrival celebrations to immediately spearhead the fight for Singh’s family. “The main issue today is justice for Gulzar Singh,” Warring stated before being detained by security forces during a march toward the Chief Minister’s house.
The Congress high command has focused heavily on a dying declaration left by Singh, which they claim directly implicates the Finance Minister. Highlighting the state’s failure to add Cheema to the police FIR, Sachin Pilot warned that the Mann administration would be forced to answer to the public regarding its alleged protection of the drug mafia.
The demonstration effectively silenced long-standing questions regarding factionalism within the state Congress. Heavyweights like Charanjit Singh Channi and Partap Singh Bajwa stood shoulder-to-shoulder, with Bajwa delivering a scathing critique of the state’s anti-drug claims, questioning why “chitta” remains so accessible if the government is winning its war on narcotics.
Working president Raj Kumar Verka noted that the tragedy has permanently revived the opposition’s momentum. While police water cannons eventually halted the march outside the Chief Minister’s residence, party leaders vowed that this is only the beginning of a statewide campaign to hold the AAP government accountable.
