Do you support anti-sacrilege bill or not: AAP leader Cheema asks Pargat Singh

Punjab minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday (October 3, 2026) asked newly appointed state Congress chief Pargat Singh if he in support of the anti-sacrilege bill and also why he never raised the issues of drug abuse and sacrilege when he was in the Shiromani Akali Dal.The AAP leader also questioned Mr. Singh's performance as a Sports and Education Minister during the previous Congress regime.The Congress appointed Mr. Singh as the president of the Punjab Congress on Friday (October 2) after Amrinder Singh Raja Warring submitted his resignation.The party high command replaced Mr. Warring following weeks of internal rift over the State leadership that threatened to impact the party's campaign for the crucial assembly elections due early next year.Speaking to the media over Mr. Singh's appointment, Mr. Cheema said the former Olympian began his political career with the Shiromani Akali Dal.When Akalis were in power, Mr. Singh never raised the issues of drug scourge and sacrilege incidents related to Guru Granth Sahib, the state finance minister alleged.He accused Mr. Singh of being silent on these two issues during the Akali regime."Drugs and 'beadbi' [sacrilege] were among the biggest political issues in Punjab during the Akali Dal (Badal)-BJP rule, yet Pargat Singh did not publicly raise his voice against either issue while he was part of the Akali Dal. The people of Punjab deserve to know why the new Congress president remained silent on matters that deeply affected the state."Mr. Cheema further claimed that when the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026, was introduced in the assembly, Mr. Singh had claimed that one faction of the Congress was in support of the bill and the other faction was not."I want to ask the new Punjab Congress president which faction of the Congress he was leading now," he asked.Notably, the anti-sacrilege law was unanimously passed by the Punjab Assembly on April 13. The law has a provision for stricter punishment, including life imprisonment for any act of sacrilege against the Guru Granth Sahib.Questioning the performance of Mr. Singh while he was the Sports and Education minister in the previous government, Mr. Cheema alleged that he "badly failed" in these departments.He referred to the recruitment process of 1,158 assistant professors carried out when Mr. Singh was the education minister.The recruitment of assistant professors was set aside by the Supreme Court for bypassing the rules with regard to the selection process, said Cheema."Pargat Singh, as Education Minister, was urged to follow the proper legal procedure and route the recruitment of 1,158 assistant professors and librarians through the Punjab Public Service Commission, but the process went ahead despite objections. The recruitment was subsequently set aside by the Supreme Court," he said.This caused serious uncertainty for the young people who had gone through the recruitment process, Cheema alleged.He further said that even though Mr. Singh was coming from a sports background, a "minuscule" amount of sports budget was kept when he was holding the sports portfolio."Despite his own experience of the requirements of sport and athletes, the sports budget under the previous government remained at around ₹147 crore," he said.Mr. Cheema said in contrast, the Bhagwant Mann government substantially increased the allocation for sports, with ₹1,746 crore provided in the current budget.Thousands of sports grounds and stadiums have been developed or are being developed across Punjab, and the government's sports initiatives, including 'Khedan Watan Punjab Diyan', are creating greater opportunities for the State's youth, he said.Mr. Singh began his political journey in 2012 when he contested the assembly elections on a SAD ticket from the Jalandhar Cantonment seat. He defeated a Congress candidate.In 2016, Mr. Singh was suspended from the SAD. Later, he joined the Congress and won the Jalandhar Cantt seat in the 2017 and 2022 assembly polls.