Elderly Health Department employees were presented as beneficiaries of Punjab’s knee-replacement scheme and made to dance at an Independence Day function in the presence of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The incident has now turned into a political controversy, with Congress and the ruling AAP giving different versions of what happened.
Congress MLA Pargat Singh said that the elderly people shown in a Health Department tableau were actually government employees and not patients who had undergone knee-replacement procedures under the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojana.
The tableau was presented during the Independence Day celebrations and featured five people, including three senior citizens, dancing to the Punjabi song “Beh ke dekh jawana babe bhangra paunde ne”, which roughly means, “Sit down, young men, and watch the seniors do the bhangra.”
Our elders are our pride, not props for political publicity.
— Amarinder Singh Raja Warring (@RajaBrar_INC) August 17, 2026
Bhagwant Mann’s government has allegedly turned Independence Day into a publicity stunt, with Health Department employees reportedly presented as elderly beneficiaries of successful knee replacement surgeries despite… pic.twitter.com/yFYlR8zVWM
The scheme provides eligible beneficiaries with treatment of up to ₹10 lakh. However, sources said the three elderly performers were Health Department employees rather than beneficiaries of knee-replacement treatment.
Reacting to a post shared by AAP Punjab, Pargat Singh said, “The elderly men shown dancing in the tableau before the CM Bhagwant Mann were Health Department employees, not patients.”
He also accused the AAP government of using elderly people for political publicity and said, “Elderly people deserve dignity, not political exploitation.”
The controversy started after the social media handle Tractor2TwitterPunjab described the performance as “peak clownery in Punjab” and claimed that senior citizens who had received free knee-replacement treatment were made to dance at the event.
The post led to mixed reactions, with some people criticising the government while others said the elderly performers were simply celebrating the benefits of the health scheme.
