Jalandhar, May 8: The Bharatiya Janata Party staged a large-scale demonstration at the Jalandhar Police Commissioner’s office today, demanding the registration of a sedition and criminal defamation case against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Led by District President Sushil Sharma, the protesters alleged that recent public statements made by the Chief Minister regarding blasts in Jalandhar and Amritsar were baseless and legally actionable.
Senior party members, including Manoranjan Kalia and Sushil Rinku, asserted that the Chief Minister’s remarks were intended to disturb communal harmony and threaten state security. The group submitted a formal complaint to the police, seeking an FIR for what they declared were “false and inflammatory” allegations against their organization.
“The Chief Minister should be prosecuted for making baseless statements against the BJP,” Manoranjan Kalia stated during the protest. He maintained that there appeared to be a significant disconnect between the Chief Minister’s claims and the findings of the Director General of Police, affirming that the state must decide which official’s version of events is accurate.
BJP leader Sushil Rinku affirmed that the accusations leveled against a national party were highly irresponsible and diminished the dignity of the Chief Minister’s office. He declared that a party with a history of national security contributions should not be linked to such violent incidents without evidence.
“The Chief Minister should either prove the involvement of the BJP and register an FIR against the party, or he should apologize to the people of Punjab and the country,” Rinku stated. The protesters maintained that the legal precedent for such prosecution exists, citing previous cases involving other political leaders who made claims related to state security.
