Chandigarh: Senior congress leader & Punjab’s leader of the opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa on Thursday has slammed the Bhagwant Mann government for its unobtrusive attempt to control the media by blocking the allocation of advertisements.

Bajwa said there were reports and even editorials by various sections of the media which clearly pointed a finger at the Bhagwant Mann government how it tried to browbeat them to write or report on sensitive issues as per the liking of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab.

“ Now this clearly shows how the Bhagwant Mann government is trying to muzzle the free and independent voice of the media by way of coercion. The press in India draws its freedom from the constitution of India as well as from the democratic values of this country”, said Bajwa.

Referring to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena’s recent directive to the Delhi chief secretary asking the AAP to return Rs. 97 crore which it spent outside Delhi for its sheer propaganda Bajwa said both Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann must understand that they had no right to squander away the public money for their personal publicity and propaganda.

“ If the Punjab media is not ready to write or report as per the whims and fancies of the Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann they have no right to muzzle or scuttle their independent voices and suffocate them by withdrawing the advertisements”, added Bajwa.

Bajwa said Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann must not behave like tyrannical kings who would want their courtiers to write and sing praises without pointing a finger at their misrule.

In a tweet, Bajwa wrote, “Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann behaving like tyrannical kings who want their ‘courtiers’ to sing praises & ignore their misrule. Controlling the media by suffocating advertisements speaks volumes about your mindset but such an attempt hugely undermines the press freedom and the constitution of India.”

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