By Political Bureau
New Delhi Chronicle
NEW DELHI: The ongoing political storm in Punjab over an alleged sacrilegious clip took an explosive turn on Thursday. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha launched a scathing attack on Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, demanding his immediate resignation and criminal prosecution under the state’s stringent new anti-sacrilege law.
Chadha, who parted ways with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) approximately two months ago, accused the ruling dispensation of “fabricating” a forensic laboratory report to cover up the Chief Minister’s involvement in the video. The clip in question allegedly shows a man, claimed by critics to be Mann, disrespecting Sikh Gurus by pouring alcohol over their photographs.
“Those who had even a slight doubt or suspicion about whether this desecration video was real, AI-generated, or fake, have now had those doubts cleared,” Chadha told reporters. “Bhagwant Mann and the Aam Aadmi Party had to manufacture a forensic report to conceal the actual desecration video. The entire Sikh community, the Guru Nanak Naamleva community, is deeply hurt, angry, and enraged today.”
Calls for Anti-Sacrilege Prosecution and Money Laundering Probe
Demanding a high-level investigation into how the allegedly doctored laboratory clearance was procured, Chadha questioned the financial trail behind the report.
“An investigation must be conducted into how this fabricated forensic report was obtained. Which officers were involved? Was government or private money used as a bribe to secure this report? We need to look into whether this constitutes money laundering and the misuse of public funds,” the BJP MP stated.
He further added, “Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann must step down. Under the state’s new sacrilege law, the first FIR and the first prosecution should be initiated against Bhagwant Mann himself.”
The Gurugram Police Breakthrough
The controversy, widely referred to as the Bhagwant Mann viral video row, shifted gears dramatically following action by the Gurugram Police. Authorities recently apprehended two individuals accused of forging the forensic report that initially cleared the Punjab CM.
According to police sources, the accused allegedly received a sum of ₹10 lakh to falsify the documents and claimed that certain high-ranking Punjab officials were complicit in the operation. Furthermore, investigators have reportedly retrieved CCTV footage showing two Punjab Police personnel visiting a Gurugram hotel to coordinate the arrangement, and summons are expected to be issued shortly.
CM Mann Alleges Political Conspiracy
Maintaining his absolute innocence, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann vehemently denied the allegations, slamming the BJP, Congress, and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for orchestrating a coordinated smear campaign to dent his political standing.
“For the past few days, fake videos of me have been circulated as part of dirty politics. When our opponents find no other way to counter us, they resort to exploiting religion to defame me,” Mann said in a video statement.
Reiterating that neither his facial structure nor his body language matches the individual in the clip, Mann alleged that the opposition had intimidated laboratory operators. “The BJP has targeted the owners of the forensic labs. Out of fear of FIRs and state torture, they are forcing lab owners to claim they took money to write a fake report,” the CM counter-charged.
Mann had previously asserted that an exhaustive technical examination of 1,191 individual frames of the video proved the individual was a lookalike actor rather than himself, terming it a “well-planned conspiracy.”
A Growing Flashpoint
The deepening political crisis has already triggered a severe religious backlash. The Akal Takht—the highest temporal seat of Sikhism—led by acting Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, previously summoned the Chief Minister over the matter and issued a directive to the Sikh community to socially boycott him.
With Gurugram Police deepening its probe into the alleged forgery trail and opposition benches closing ranks, the controversy has firmly positioned itself as one of the most volatile political battles ahead of upcoming electoral fixtures.
