Rahul Gandhi and Gulzar Singh

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema and called for an independent, impartial and time-bound investigation into the death of Gulzar Singh, a member of the Valmiki community.The Congress leader also urged people in Punjab, particularly members of the Dalit community, to remain vigilant against what he described as the misuse of power by the Aam Aadmi Party government.In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said, “The people of Punjab, and especially the Dalits, should become vigilant regarding the misuse of power by the AAP government. Listen to what happened to Gulzar Singh Ji, who belonged to the Valmiki community, in his final days—hear it straight from the mouths of his family, his mother, his wife, and his brother. They tormented him in life, and even in death, they are dishonoring Gulzar Singh Ji. The grieving family members themselves are saying that even his right to a traditional last rites was snatched away from them.”“The chief minister should immediately demand the resignation of the finance minister, his name should be registered in the FIR, and there should be an independent, impartial, and time-bound investigation into the entire matter,” he added.Earlier in the day, Congress targeted AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal over his reported defence of Cheema. In a post on X, the party alleged that statements by Gulzar Singh and his family members named Cheema and claimed that alleged harassment by the minister had driven Gulzar Singh to suicide.“Is this AAP’s ‘decisive war against drugs’?” the Congress said, accusing the AAP of indulging in “extremely dirty politics” while defending its minister.The party also criticised Kejriwal for referring to Gulzar Singh as “this person” and for saying that “no minister has anything to do with it”. The Congress demanded action against Cheema, justice for the family and an end to what it described as a nexus involving drugs.Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann has defended his government against Rahul Gandhi’s criticism, rejecting the Lok Sabha leader of opposition’s attempt to hold the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government responsible for the incident.“Rahul Gandhi ji, don’t do politics over dead bodies; Punjabis don’t like this kind of politics. Look here, when Congress leaders went to the victim’s village and still tried to indulge in this dirty politics, the people chased them away from there. In this case, all the accused have already been caught by the police based on identification by the family. The Akali, BJP, and Congress governments have been responsible for spreading drugs in Punjab.

In my government, no drug smuggler will be spared,” he had said earlier in the day in a post on X.A controversy broke out after 47-year-old Gulzar Singh allegedly died by suicide, with his family claiming he was asked to apologise and subjected to casteist slurs after questioning finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema over the alleged “unabated” supply of ‘chitta’ in his area at an event on September 6.Singh allegedly consumed poison and died on Monday night, according to his family. A purported video of his final moments, in which he spoke about his interaction with Cheema, later surfaced, prompting opposition parties to seek the resignations of both Cheema and chief minister Bhagwant Mann.