Delhi Police, EC team reach Punjab CM's residence for search; Mann calls it attempt to 'defame Punjabis'

The development comes a day after a private vehicle bearing the "Punjab government" sticker and registration number of the state was seized by the Delhi Police.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann alongh with Delhi Chief Minister Atishi during a campaign rally at Kalkaji.(L)
Police personnel outside Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's Kapurthala House residence, in New Delhi, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025.(R)
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann alongh with Delhi Chief Minister Atishi during a campaign rally at Kalkaji.(L) Police personnel outside Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's Kapurthala House residence, in New Delhi, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025.(R)(Photo| X, PTI)
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A team of the Election Commission officials and Delhi Police personnel has reached Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's Kapurthala House residence in Delhi for conducting a search.

An official outside Kapurthala House on Copernicus Marg told reporters that a complaint was received regarding "cash" being distributed from there.

The team was awaiting permission to conduct the search, he added.

Delhi Chief Minister Atishi in a post on X hit out at the BJP, saying a team was at her Punjab counterpart's residence for "raid."

She alleged that people in the BJP were "openly" distributing money, shoes, slippers and bed sheets, but the police was unable to see that and reached an elected chief minister's residence for "raid."

A senior officer said that Delhi Police personnel were accompanying the Election Commission officials and members of the flying squad for protection.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann accused the delhi police and the Election Commision of trying to "defame" the Punjabis at the behest of the BJP.

In a post on X, Mann also alleged that the EC was not seeing "open distribution" of money by the BJP in the run-up to the Delhi polls and was trying to raid his residence instead.

The development comes a day after a private vehicle bearing the "Punjab government" sticker and registration number of the state was seized by the Delhi Police.

Delhi Police has registered a case after the vehicle parked near the Punjab Bhawan was found loaded with liquor, cash and election publicity materials of the AAP.

The seizure has sparked a political storm, with the opposition BJP questioning the integrity of AAP’s poll campaign.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva called it an alarming example of corruption. “We always knew that Arvind Kejriwal institutionalised corruption in the Delhi government. He has polluted the Yamuna, choked air, and now is corrupting the political system,” he said.

AAP alleged it was part of the BJP's "dirty politics" to defame it and its government in Punjab.

"The dirty politics of BJP has stooped so low that they are using a fake registration number vehicle shown to be carrying money and publicity material of a party to defame the AAP, Punjab government and the Punjab Bhawan," AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said in a press conference.

In as statement, the Punjab government said that the vehicle is registered in the name of Major Anubhav Shivpuri, who was posted in Army Dental College, Pathankot, three years back and is a permanent resident of Khadki, Maharashtra. It further said no such vehicle is owned or hired by the Punjab government.

"The apprehended vehicle does not belong to Govt of Punjab,” a Punjab government statement said.

Meanwhile, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday unleashed a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India stating that the poll agency has been "made a mess" by the Chief Election Commissioner who is "doing politics" to protect his interests.

"I want to say with respect, they (ECI) can’t see money being distributed openly in Delhi. They can not see blankets being distributed in the city…. ECI is doing politics because Rajiv Kumar wants a job post-retirement. I want to say to Rajiv Kumar that history will not forgive you. Rajiv Kumar has made a mess of the poll body," the former Delhi chief minister said in a press conference.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann alongh with Delhi Chief Minister Atishi during a campaign rally at Kalkaji.(L)
Police personnel outside Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's Kapurthala House residence, in New Delhi, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025.(R)
Kejriwal says CEC indulging in ‘dirty politics’ amid EC nudge

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