Chandigarh, Oct 8 — Former Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Ashwani Sharma on Thursday said the Supreme Court's decision to cancel and order fresh elections in 50 Municipal Corporation and Municipal Council wards in Patiala and Moga districts had raised serious questions about the functioning of the state Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
He said the decision had also exposed the government's alleged high-handedness during the local body elections.
In a statement issued here, Sharma said the Supreme Court-appointed fact-finding committee's report highlighted serious irregularities during the nomination process, including preventing candidates from filing nominations, snatching, tearing, or destroying nomination papers, and threatening candidates.
The committee found irregularities in the election process in 28 wards of Patiala, all 15 wards of Baghapurana and seven wards of Dharamkot in Moga district.
Following this, the Supreme Court ordered fresh elections in these wards within six weeks.
Sharma said that in a democracy, elections are not merely about casting votes but also about ensuring a level playing field and equal opportunity for every candidate.
He alleged that the AAP government misused its power to suppress the voices of Opposition candidates.
He said the Supreme Court's decision to constitute a monitoring committee headed by a retired High Court judge and order videography of the entire process, from nomination to polling, made it clear that the electoral process required close supervision.
The BJP leader said the people of Punjab would not tolerate any compromise with democracy or with the conduct of free and fair elections.
Meanwhile, state BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon, in a separate statement, said that the moment the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began investigating alleged corruption in the AAP government, the "Delhi-based gang" suddenly started claiming that Punjab's federal structure was under threat.
He said the government's argument before the Supreme Court that fabricated cases were being raised because of the Punjab Assembly elections was proof that the AAP was merely seeking political excuses to evade accountability.
Dhillon said AAP leaders had been claiming in the media that the CBI investigation amounted to interference in the federal structure.
"This government initially made these arguments in the media to mislead the people and is now repeating the same hollow arguments before the Supreme Court," he said.