No Word From Union Govt, AAP Largely Absent; Pathanmajra Side Show

The Indian union government has not yet declared the floods in Panjab or north Indian states a National Emergency or made any special grants. After 10 days since severe floods started in Panjab, the Indian Prime Minister has now assured help. On 27 Aug, the Panjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann made a show of donating his helicopter for flood relief in Gurdaspur but that just drops a few packets of food, that too in water. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal has not visited Panjab. On 2 Sep he just urged his party workers to arrange relief for Panjab and committed one month’s salary of all elected representatives towards flood relief. The Panjab Indian National Congress (INC) had already committed that on 28 Aug. The Haryana Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini expressed solidarity but that means little because true solidarity would be if Haryana and Rajasthan accept their non-riparian status on Panjab’s rivers and give up their illegal claim on Panjab waters. That is how Panjab’s dams will not be used to store water for their use. They will not be filled to the brim. The flood gates will not be opened only when the reservoirs reach danger mark. Meanwhile, on 30 Aug, AAP Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal visited flood-affected areas in Ajnala, Amritsar. Former Jathedar (leader) and Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) head granthi (reciter) Giani Raghbir Singh was with Dhaliwal who requested an Ardas (prayer) for Panjab; the emotional toll was so high that Giani Raghbir broke down while performing Ardas. Concurrently, on 31 Aug, Sanaur, Patiala AAP MLA  Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra spoke out against Principal Secretary for Water Resources Krishan Kumar. Pathanmajra said he had requested Kumar to get the Tangri rivulet desilted and cleaned but to no avail and that Delhi-based AAP leadership was 'illegitimately ruling over Panjab.' On 2 Sep, a First Information report was filed against Pathanmajra over rape, cheating, and criminal intimidation in a three-year-old case and he was arrested. The signal is to other AAP MLAs and leaders to not speak against the party.