AAP launches state-wise protests against BJP over ED action on Minister Sanjeev Arora
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, May 10, 2026: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday launched statewide protests across Punjab against the BJP-led Central Government, accusing it of misusing central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), CBI and Income Tax Department to target opposition leaders and destabilise non-BJP governments.
AAP leaders and workers staged demonstrations and gheraoed BJP offices at district headquarters across the state, including Hoshiarpur, Patiala, Mohali and several other districts, over the ED action against Punjab Cabinet Minister Sanjeev Arora.
Protesters raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government, alleging that central agencies were being used as political tools to intimidate opposition parties.
In Hoshiarpur, AAP workers burnt an effigy of the Prime Minister and termed the BJP’s actions “dictatorial and anti-democratic.” Party leaders claimed that the BJP was attempting to spread fear through raids and coercive measures but asserted that Punjab would not bow to such pressure.
Senior AAP leader and Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the BJP had converted constitutional agencies into “political weapons.”
“The BJP unleashes ED, CBI and Income Tax whenever it faces political resistance. Bengal was targeted earlier, and now Punjab is being attacked because the BJP cannot digest the popularity of AAP and the pro-people work of the Bhagwant Mann government,” Cheema said.
He further alleged that the BJP was trying to weaken democratically elected governments through intimidation because it had failed to defeat them politically.
In Patiala, Cabinet Minister Dr. Balbir Singh led a protest march and accused the BJP of indulging in “politics of fear, raids and coercion.”
Addressing protesters, Dr. Balbir Singh alleged that Punjab’s Rajya Sabha MPs and Cabinet Ministers were being selectively targeted because AAP refused to “surrender before the Centre.”
“Punjabis have always stood against oppression and will give a befitting reply to the BJP,” he said.
The minister also questioned why investigations against certain leaders allegedly stopped after they joined the BJP, claiming it exposed the “real face” of the party.
AAP leaders maintained that Punjab’s people would not tolerate the misuse of constitutional institutions for political vendetta and warned that attempts to destabilise the state government through pressure tactics would fail.