Punjab Advocate-General Anmol Rattan Sidhu’s resignation citing personal reasons barely four months after being appointed to the post saw the Opposition parties cornering the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government over allegedly being run by the party’s high command in Delhi.
Criminal lawyer Vinod Ghai, 56, who will succeed Mr. Sidhu, will be the fifth A-G of the State in the past 10 months. Mr. Sidhu, who was appointed in March after AAP came to power, on Tuesday shared on Twitter the resignation letter he had written to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on July 19.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Minister Daljit Singh Cheema pointed out that the State’s top three officials had either quit or been replaced in a short span of time. Earlier this month, Gaurav Yadav was given charge as the State’s DGP after V.K. Bhawra sought Central deputation and went on a two-month leave. Vijay Kumar Janjua was appointed as the new Chief Secretary, replacing Anirudh Tewari.
‘Orders sent from Delhi’
Mr. Cheema said the development shows that senior officers are feeling suffocated as the government is being run from Delhi. “Orders are being given from Delhi and officers in Punjab are finding it difficult to implement them,” he said.
BJP leader Sunil Jakhar said it seems that the Mann-led regime is going the way of the previous Charanjit Singh Channi-led government. “Striking similarities. Then also, first DGP was removed, then the AG. Same script being followed now, only characters have changed. Earlier the puppeteer was Harish [Rawat of the Congress], now it’s Raghav Chadha. In any case, Punjab suffers,” he tweeted.
Hitting out at AAP, Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira said, “The sudden change in the Punjab A-G once again confirms that the AAP government is not only directionless and unstable but also not being run by the Chief Minister.”
