Politics
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BJP joins call for Mann to resign over allegation
NDTV··23 Aug
On 23 August 2026, BJP joined the Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress in asking Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to resign after an allegation that his wife, Gurpreet Kaur, sought Rs 5 crore to suppress a rape case. The National Human Rights Commission issued notice to the Punjab government and police chief and sought a report within two weeks.
Prism
What It Means For You
- If you follow Punjab politics, the new fact this weekend is that BJP has now joined Akali Dal and Congress in asking Mann to step down.
- Anyone watching the NHRC clock should note the Punjab Chief Secretary and DGP were given two weeks to file an action-taken report.
- If you are tracking the legal track, Gurpreet Kaur's notice to Justice Ranjit Singh asked for an apology within 24 hours.
What's Happening
- The NHRC bench headed by Priyank Kanoongo took cognisance of a complaint that a Rs 5 crore demand was made to hush a rape case.
- Justice Ranjit Singh is also described in reports as the brother-in-law of Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira.
- AAP has treated the claim as a political attack and pointed to the legal notice as its first formal response.
How An NHRC Notice Reached A Chief Minister
- An NHRC notice is a direction to inquire and report; it is not a court conviction or a finding that the allegation is true.
- The rape-case claim and the resignation demand are being argued together because the person named is the Chief Minister's wife.
- The Home Ministry's Women Safety Division was copied so the Centre has a parallel paper trail besides the State report.
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