An undated video of Congress MLA Joginder Pal has surfaced over the social media networks in which he was seen beating a man for asking him if he has done any work for his constituency. In the video, Pal was seen addressing a small crowd inside a tent in the village, district Pathankot, Punjab.
The video is reportedly recent. Pal is the MLA from Pathankot’s Bhoa constituency. He was seen addressing some people gathered near a Navratri celebration event.
While he was speaking, a young man was heard from behind the crowd. A man who was wearing a brown shirt was then seen in a frame being shooed away by the security personnel of the MLA. At first, Pal ignored the man and continued his speech. However, when the man continued to shout from behind, Pal asked his security officers to let him pass. He handed over the mic to the man and asked him to say whatever he had to say on the mic.
As soon as the man said on the mic, “What have you done?” the MLA started assaulting him. The man suffered several blows to his head before the police personnel, and the MLA’s followers joined in to assault the man further. He was seen getting severely beaten up by the people present at the scene, including the police officials.
The man tried to escape, but the crowd held him down and kept beating him. Shortly after they started beating the young man, another policeman intervened and stopped the crowd to let the man let go.
Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, State Home Minister, said, “The MLA should not have behaved in this fashion. We are the people’s representatives and here to serve them.”
Another video of Pal also surfaced in which he was seen losing his cool. It appears that MLA, who was standing near a helicopter, was upset as Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had cancelled a visit to his constituency. In the video, a man was seen trying to calm MLA Pal down, but he shrugged him away and left the ground.
Punjab assembly elections
The incident is going to make it further difficult for the Congress party in the upcoming assembly elections scheduled for early 2022. Notably, former CM Captain Amarinder Singh has recently announced that he would float his own party for the upcoming elections. He also hinted at an alliance with BJP on the condition that the Centre finds a logical solution for the ongoing farmer protests ‘that benefit the farmers’.