Former minister and senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia accused the AAP government of stifling grassroots democracy through the use of money and intimidation. He made these remarks while attending a defamation case he filed against several AAP leaders in 2016.
Majithia claimed that people have been receiving threatening calls from gangsters, and in many villages, only 10 percent of those affiliated with opposition parties were able to submit their nomination papers.
He alleged that the AAP government is protecting and promoting gangsters, such as Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, Lawrence Bishnoi, Lakhbir Singh Landa, and Harvinder Rinda, who are reportedly intimidating voters.
Majithia also noted that Bhagwanpuria’s family has shifted their political allegiance with each change of government, having previously been linked to former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.