Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was detained for nearly three hours at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport after returning from Paris and issued a challan of ₹50,000, AAP claimed. The AAP's claims fuelled a new political dispute over the treatment of the Punjab Chief Minister and the Centre's handling of his overseas tours. Airport officials delayed Mann's departure and issued the fine, with officials apparently referring to pressure from higher authorities.
Punjab AAP media in-charge Baltej Pannu said Mann was forced to wait at the airport because his luggage had not yet arrived and was still being checked. Pannu said the chief minister remained at the airport for about three hours before being able to leave.
A senior government official, who declined to name himself, said they came to Mann when he was getting into his vehicle and told him that they were under “tremendous pressure from above.” AAP has said it was ‘deliberate’ and asked why an elected chief minister was treated like this.
The controversy comes at a time when the Punjab government and the Centre have been at loggerheads over Mann's foreign travel. The chief minister had travelled to Paris to lead a state delegation to the participation of the Punjab State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited (Markfed) in SIAL Paris 2026.
The international food trade exhibition was scheduled from 17th to 21st October. The visit was to boost Punjab's agriculture and food products and explore opportunities for international trade and investment. AAP leaders have maintained that such overseas travel could help Punjab's producers and businesses reach global markets.
Before Mann left for Paris, it had already been a legal and political headache for him. The Punjab government protested the Centre's decision to deny political clearance for the chief minister's foreign trip. That then saw Mann go abroad after an interview at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, so a few weeks after that he was allowed to travel to France, and this raised questions about how elected state leaders travel abroad and the balancing act between the Centre's clearance process and the state government's international economic interests. AAP has now linked the alleged airport issue to this broader issue and claimed that the persistent obstructions to Mann's foreign trip could damage Punjab's ability to attract investment and to create new business opportunities as well.
AAP leaders also extended their criticism to the BJP-led central government after the alleged detention. Pannu said the Centre was creating hurdles for Punjab to develop and also connected the incident to repeated denials of consent for Mann's overseas trips.
AAP has also raised concerns about the state's banking position and the Centre's handling of the farmers' protest as reasons for the party to worry. The allegations have brought another hurdle to the war between the ruling party in Punjab and the central government. But the party has yet to publicly explain what the ₹50,000 challan was about, a topic that is crucial.
The question now is whether the airport authorities or the concerned government agencies will give an explanation in detail of the incident. At the time of publication, the available reports did not give any official explanation for the alleged three-hour detention or the basis of the ₹50,000 fine.
And until any further information is provided, the allegations should not be interpreted as allegations made by the Aam Aadmi Party but as evidence independently confirmed by them. The episode is likely to keep the Centre-state relationship, foreign travel papers, and promotion of Punjab's economic interests in the political focus. There should be more clarification of the incident from relevant authorities.
Comments
Leave a Comment