Resignation Drama in AAP; Govt Orders DNA Test for Child Beggars

On 19 Jul, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Legislative Assembly from Kharar, singer-turned-politician Anmol Gagan Kaur Maan resigned as a member of the Panjab Assembly. ‘My heart is heavy, but I have decided to leave politics,’ she wrote on social media. When AAP was campaigning for the 2022 Assembly election, Mann became famous for saying, ‘We will provide Minimum Support Price (a continuing point of contention by Panjab farmers) on all crops within 5 minutes of forming the government.’ On the same day, real estate baron Ranjit Singh Gill from Kharar and a close aide of Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, resigned from the primary membership of the party. There was speculation that AAP is luring the moneybag and rewarding him with the Kharar seat. However, AAP rejected Mann’s resignation. Mann withdrew her resignation. Earlier, on 16 Jul, Panjab Assembly Leader of Opposition (LoP) from Indian National Congress, Partap Singh Bajwa sought the removal of unauthorized people from the Legislative Assembly complex, saying these people were tinkering with Assembly proceedings. Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan said since the formation of the govt, proceedings had been broadcast live and the Department of Public Relations (DPR) took care of it. Bajwa replied that he did not have any issues with DPR, but over the presence of AAP social media in-charge in the Assembly. 'Aniket Saxena was sitting there. These people who are not employees of the Assembly cannot be allowed to sit inside.' Meanwhile, to counter the menace of child beggars and trafficking in Panjab, the govt has ordered DNA tests on children involved in begging along with the adults accompanying them to ascertain if they are their biological parents. ‘If the DNA test confirms that the adult is not related to the child, strict legal action will be taken, including potential imprisonment,’ said minister Dr. Baljit Kaur (earlier coverage).