The recent bomb blast in the Ludhiana court complex which killed one and injured five persons, the case against senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Bikram Singh Majithia in the infamous Bhola drug case, and the incidents of sacrilege attempts appear to be the major factors having ample potential to impact the ensuing assembly polls in Punjab.
Till recently, the assembly elections which are just about two months away, appeared to be dominated by promises of various freebies by ruling Congress chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and the populist announcements by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal and the SAD, BJP leaders. The AAP is the principal opposition party in Punjab.
While the ruling Congress government has sounded high alert in the state after the bomb blast, it has not ruled out a terror link behind it aimed at vitiating the communal harmony ahead of the assembly polls. Notably, the blast comes close on the heels of recent incidents of alleged sacrilege attempts.
The blast inside the court complex exposed a major security lapse as the explosives had been smuggled in despite security at district courts which are built in close proximity of the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) office in the heart of Ludhiana city.
Significantly enough, this incident also reminds one of the January 31, 2017 bomb blast which took place at Maur Mandi in Bathinda district ahead of polls and which killed seven persons including three children, and changed the narrative of the election, then.
Condemning the incident, chief minister Channi held that it was an act of anti-national forces which were trying to disturb the peace in the state ahead of the assembly elections. First, there was a sacrilege incident at the Golden Temple in which they failed and now now this blast, he said and added that his government would not spare the culprits.
Former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh who sought the state police to investigate the incident thoroughly, had also pointedly expressed concerns a few days ago about the threat to the state from Pakistan-backed terror forces and also sought from the Centre 25 companies of Central armed police forces and the anti-drone gadgets for the Border Security Force (BSF) to check such threats.
