Congress & Akali leaders gun for Mann after he links blasts to BJP

Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann's claim that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was behind the Tuesday night blasts in Jalandhar and Amritsar snowballed into a political storm on Wednesday, with Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) slamming the statement. Punjab leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa called statements by Mann as "contradictory". "On one hand, the chief minister is blaming BJP, while on the other, the state's top police officer is pointing towards Pakistan's ISI. Whom should the people of Punjab trust? The political leadership or the state police chief?" Bajwa said.He said conflicting narratives coming from the govt itself were creating confusion and spreading fear in people at a time when Punjab required responsible leadership and a clear security response. "I dare Bhagwant Mann to order legal action against those he is accusing (of the blasts). Punjab cannot be run through insinuations, selective narratives and political blame games," he added.Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring accused AAP govt of complete failure to maintain law and order. "At stake is the hard-earned peace in Punjab, which has come at a huge cost," he said. Referring to Mann's "revelations" that these bomb blasts were orchestrated by the BJP, Warring too asked the CM if he knew who was behind these blasts, why was he not taking action against them. "Why are you trying to make Punjab the playfield for your dirty games?" he said.Warring also questioned the silence of Union home minister Amit Shah, saying that the blasts were "an important issue concerning national security".Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia called the Mann's statement lies. "Punjab is being shaken less by the blasts and more by Bhagwant Mann's lies! Within a gap of five minutes, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann claimed that the BJP was behind the blasts, while the temporary DGP stated that the ISI was responsible," he wrote on X. Alleging "continued intelligence failures and collapse of law and order", SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said three blasts had occurred in just 10 days, citing the blast on the Rajpura rail tracks on April 27. "Chief minister Bhagwant Mann, who is also the state home minister, is busy in mimicry and cheap politics. He has forfeited the right to remain in office," he said.