Chandigarh: Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Monday accused Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission chairperson Jasvir Singh Garhi of acting as a representative of the Aam Aadmi Party and its government, stating that he had no faith in him and would not appear before him, preferring instead to seek legal recourse through the courts.
Warring was responding to a summons issued by the commission in connection with its inquiry into a purported viral video clip in which he is alleged to have made caste-based remarks during the recent civic poll campaign. The commission had taken suo motu notice of the clip, sought a report from Muktsar police, and directed forensic examination of Warring's voice sample. Warring has maintained that the clip is fake and politically motivated.
He, however, said he had full respect for constitutional and statutory bodies, including the Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission. Asked whether he would appear before the commission in response to a summons, Warring alleged that Garhi had consistently acted with a political motive. He noted that as chairman of the commission, Garhi was expected to function independently of the government. "Unfortunately, he is not doing justice to the responsibility assigned to him," Warring said.
Referring to the Congress victories in the Gurdaspur and Dina Nagar municipal council polls, Warring claimed the results showed that the party was gaining ground in Punjab. "The writing is on the wall that the Congress is coming and the AAP is going," he said.
He added that Congress would soon launch a mass mobilisation campaign that would continue until the assembly elections.
