Bhagwant Mann says no paper leaks under Punjab government, attacks BJP

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann denied allegations of paper leaks under his government and accused opposition parties of defaming Punjabis for political gains. He said his government provided jobs on merit and claimed strict action was taken against cheating attempts in examinations

New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday claimed that there had been no paper leak under his government and accused the BJP of trying to defame Punjabis for its own political gains.

Addressing the media here after meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in the Parliament complex, Mann said the BJP was making “false allegations” about paper leaks to defame Punjabis and warned that this would cost them dearly.

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He also met some opposition MPs during his visit to Parliament House, including Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav.

The Chief Minister said the BJP should “stop maligning Punjabis” for political gains and fight its political battle with him instead.

The BJP, the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal have alleged paper leaks in Punjab’s medical examination and are demanding the resignation of the Education Minister in the state.

Punjab goes to polls early next year.

Mann hit out at the BJP, the Congress and SAD for allegedly trying to tarnish the reputation of Punjab and its hardworking youth through false paper leak allegations.

The Chief Minister said his government has provided 69,000 government jobs solely on the basis of merit and without any recommendations and paper leaks.

“The beauty of democracy is that people should continue to meet and interact with each other. Differences in ideology are natural in politics and they will always exist,” Mann said.

Referring to the opposition’s allegations over paper leaks, the Punjab CM said, “Our government has completed four-and-a-half years in office, but not a single examination paper has leaked in Punjab during this period.”

“A few days ago, we did detect a case of cheating during a pharmacy examination. The exam started at 11 am, and by 11:15 am we had found that a candidate was using a Bluetooth-enabled pen to scan the question paper and receive answers through an earpiece from people sitting outside. The Punjab Police acted immediately, arrested 10 candidates along with an 11-member gang operating from outside,” he said.

“Punjab works on the principle of ‘no cash, no farmaish, only merit’,” he asserted.

Responding to the opposition’s demand for the resignation of the Education Minister, the Chief Minister said, “First of all, the pharmacy examination did not fall under the Education Department but under the Health Department. The Health Minister has already clarified that there was no paper leak. It was merely an attempt at cheating, which was immediately stopped, and the examination concluded successfully. Paper leaks cannot happen in Punjab.”

Taking on SAD, Mann said, “The Akali Dal no longer has any standing in Punjab. How much support do they even have now? As for the BJP, before staging protests outside Parliament, it should first look after Jantar Mantar.”

The Chief Minister said, “I stand before the people after providing 68,855 government jobs without taking a single rupee and purely on the basis of merit. Cheating and corruption in recruitment have become things of the past in Punjab. The BJP, Congress and Akali Dal should first put their own house in order instead of worrying about the ‘Jhaadu’ (broom).”