CHANDIGARH: Leader of the Opposition, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Monday tore into the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab for what he called a “deliberate and deceitful attempt” to sideline the Punjabi language and deny employment opportunities to Punjabi youth in the recruitment process of 166 posts in Sugarfed Punjab.
Bajwa revealed that the AAP government initially attempted to dilute the requirement of Punjabi language proficiency by allowing candidates who hadn’t passed Punjabi in Matric to appear for the examination—on the condition that they clear a basic Punjabi test during their three-year probation.
“It was a clear attempt to recruit non-Punjabis by stealth. Only after a massive public outcry and media backlash did the government take a panicked U-turn and declare Punjabi compulsory again. This is not governance—it’s deceit, ” Bajwa said.
He accused the AAP government of trying to sneak in policies that betray Punjab’s linguistic and cultural ethos, only to reverse course when caught red-handed. “This pattern has become a hallmark of the AAP regime—quietly undermining Punjab’s interests, then staging a course correction to save face, ” Bajwa stated.
Bajwa slammed Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for allowing Delhi-based control over Punjab’s institutions, saying the entire episode was yet another example of AAP’s top-down interference, which continues to erode Punjab’s autonomy and identity.
“Punjabis are alert. They refused to be fooled this time. AAP’s latest scheme was a direct assault on Punjabiyat—and the people of Punjab stopped it in its tracks, ” Bajwa declared.
Calling the reversal a victory of public awareness over political manipulation, Bajwa demanded strict safeguards to prevent such attempts in the future and urged the government to come clean with a white paper on language-based recruitment decisions.
“Punjab belongs to Punjabis—not to outsiders who want to exploit it from Delhi. We won’t allow anyone to tamper with our language, our jobs, or our identity, ” Bajwa warned.