CHANDIGARH: Following the grenade attack on the Punjab BJP office, the remarks made by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in a mocking tone are highly unfortunate. Such comments do not befit a person holding the office of the Chief Minister. This was stated by Ashwani Sharma, Working President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Punjab, while addressing a press conference today after visiting the blast site at the party’s state headquarters in Chandigarh.
He said with concern that incidents such as the desecration of statues of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the murders of Sidhu Moosewala, kabaddi players, traders, sarpanches and panches, grenade attacks on dozens of police stations and posts, the RPG attack on the Intelligence Headquarters, gangland killings, and large-scale extortion clearly indicate that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal have abdicated their responsibility towards Punjab and have left the state unattended.
Raising serious questions, Ashwani Sharma asked AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann whether they are repaying anti-national elements like Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who supported them in 2017 and even wrote a letter in 2022 appealing for votes, stating that “if AAP forms the government in Punjab, hopes of achieving our objective will revive.” He further claimed that funding of 16.70 million dollars (over ₹100 crore) was provided by his organization for this mission. Sharma questioned whether the recurring incidents point towards the advancement of Pannun’s anti-national agenda.
Referring to the major attacks that occurred after the formation of the AAP government, Mr. Sharma stated that in 2022, an RPG attack took place on May 10 at the Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in Mohali, and on December 10, an RPG attack was carried out at the Sarhali (Tarn Taran) police station. In 2023, on January 9, a blast occurred outside the Gumtala (Amritsar) police post; on January 15, a hand grenade attack took place in Jaitipur (Amritsar); and towards the end of November, multiple grenade attacks were carried out on several police posts in Amritsar and Gurdaspur. In 2024, on November 23, an IED was planted outside the Ajnala (Amritsar) police station; on November 29, a blast occurred near a closed police post in Gurbaksh Nagar (Amritsar); on December 2, a grenade attack was foiled in Kathgarh (Nawanshahr); on December 4, a blast took place in the veranda of Majitha (Amritsar) police station; on December 13, a grenade was thrown in Ghaniye Ke Banger (Batala) but did not explode; on December 17, a blast occurred near the Islamabad (Amritsar) police station; and between December 18–20, multiple grenade attacks were carried out in Kalanaur (Gurdaspur). In 2025, on January 9, a blast occurred outside the Gumtala (Amritsar) police post; between January and March, repeated attempts of grenade/IED attacks were made in border areas; on April 6–7, an RPG/grenade attack took place at Qila Lal Singh (Batala) police station; on April 7, a grenade attack was carried out outside the residence of BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia in Jalandhar; on June 16–17, multiple grenade attacks were reported on police posts in Gurdaspur, Amritsar, and Majitha; on November 25, a hand grenade attack took place at Gurdaspur City police station; and between December 1–4, P-86 grenades were recovered in Gurdaspur. In 2026, in March, a blast occurred outside the Bhindi Saidan police station in Amritsar at around 1:30 a.m. (suspected to be a grenade/IED explosion).
These incidents clearly show that the law and order situation in Punjab has completely collapsed, and its impact is now reaching the state capital Chandigarh as well. It is unfortunate that the Chief Minister is evading responsibility and his insensitive remarks are adding to the distress.
The attack on the BJP office is the result of anti-national forces rattled by the growing support for BJP in Punjab. However, no BJP worker or leader will be intimidated by such acts. Every BJP worker and leader is committed to making any sacrifice to preserve communal harmony in Punjab. The designs of those who seek to divide the nation will never succeed.