Less than a week after Sandeep Pathak — a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab — defected from the Aam Aadmi Party to join the BJP, a Punjab Police team arrived at his official residence in Delhi. Pathak, however, had reportedly been tipped off. By the time the officers arrived, he had slipped through a rear exit and been whisked away by a waiting car. A video clip of his hasty departure has since been widely circulated, capturing what many see as a spiralling culture of political retribution.

In the days that followed, it emerged that two FIRs were registered against Pathak in separate districts of Punjab, invoking stringent legal provisions under which securing bail is difficult. Delhi Police personnel were deployed outside his residence. The message from Punjab was unmistakable: if he showed up, he would be arrested.

Pathak is not an isolated case. Rajinder Gupta — another of the seven AAP MPs who defected — has also run into legal trouble, albeit of a different nature. Gupta is chairman emeritus of the Trident Group, a prominent industrialist with business interests spanning textiles and manufacturing.

In 2022, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) had protested against alleged water pollution from the group’s Dhaula unit in Barnala district. At the time, the state government appeared indifferent, and the issue faded from public discourse.

Gupta’s defection seems to have galvanised the administration into action. The Punjab State........

© National Herald