4 July 2024 Punjab Khabarnama : Sheetal Angural, a former MLA and BJP candidate, arranged a tent and set up two chairs at Babu Jagjivan Ram Chowk in the Jalandhar West area, where the bypoll is taking place. She was waiting for Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to arrive and receive a pen drive containing audio recordings that allegedly expose Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders involved in extortion. Angural has prepared a larger chair for the CM and a smaller one for herself for the scheduled debate. After accepting Mann’s challenge, Angural had announced that she would make the audio tapes public immediately instead of waiting for the previously announced release date of July 5. On Monday, Angural claimed to possess 40 audio recordings that implicate certain AAP leaders in illegal activities such as collecting large sums of money from illegal businesses like betting, lotteries, and gambling.
However, Mann is unlikely to make it to the venue. Most politicians, including Partap Bajwa, the Leader of Opposition, expect the event to be similar to the one scheduled by Bhagwant Mann at Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana. During that event, the Chief Minister accepted the challenge from opposition parties to debate on the issues affecting Punjab. The Chief Minister also laid chairs in a similar fashion and sat on his chair, highlighting that the Opposition had avoided debating with him. Angural, who was previously an AAP MLA from Jalandhar West and joined BJP in March this year, is perhaps playing the same trick on Mann just six days before the July 10 byelection.
