Days after Punjab’s all opposition parties come together on one stage to protest against Vigilance action against Editor-in-Chief of Ajit newspaper Dr Barjinder Singh Hamdard, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was locked in a ‘no-holds-barred’ Twitter war on Sunday with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia, and Congress’ Navjot Singh Sidhu.
 
The first salvo was fired by the Chief Minister Mann, launching a scathing attack on all political parties and Dr Hamdard by sharing a tweet in Punjabi — making indirect references to Majithia, Congress, BJP, Operation Bluestar, among other things—while calling all the opposition leaders as “ek hi thaali ke chatte batte (birds of feathers flock together)”.
 
Mann, in his tweet, hit out at Majithia for his family’s alleged history of having hosted General Dyer — architect of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, and his alleged involvement in drug trade; Congress for conducting Operation Bluestar at the Golden Temple; Akalis for the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib under his rule; BJP for creating a divide on religious lines and for anti-farmer laws, among other things.
 
In an apparent reference to the all-party meeting in support of Dr Hamdard who was facing Vigilance summon in connection with an ongoing probe into Jang-e-Azadi memorial, Mann quipped, when all, including those who made money from the construction of the martyrs’ memorial, come together, it means they all are one and same, “the birds of feather flock together”.
 
“When … Those who fed General Dyer…Those who orders for tanks to run down the religious institutions…Those who committed sacrilege against Guru Granth Sahib…Those who participated in the framing of the three contentious farm laws…Those who harboured smugglers…Those who say “de taali” on every issue…And those who made money from construction of memorials made for martyrs…Get Together…It means they are all one and same,” Mann said, in his tweet in Punjabi.
 
Mann, in a statement issued later in the evening, said that anyone who knows about the past of these political parties knows well that their hands are drenched with the blood of Punjab and Punjabis. “These parties with an established track record of anti-Punjab and anti-Punjabi stance have always meted out huge losses to the state by jeopardizing its progress and prosperity. Whenever these parties were in power, they had safeguarded the interests of each other, but ever since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government has assumed the charge of office in state, their nefarious designs to loot the state in alternative terms have foiled,” he said.
 
The Chief Minister said that baffled over it, these leaders have now sunk all their ideological differences to vehemently oppose the State Government. Though the wardrobes of these leaders were different from each other, the hands of all these political parties have blood of innocent Punjabis in one form or another, he said.
 
Mann said that while some of them trace roots from those who had served meals to General Dyer after the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, others are those who had rolled tanks in the most sacred religious places of Punjabis thereby bruising their psyche.
 
“In the meeting those leaders were also present who had formulated the draconian anti-farmers law opposing which hundreds of innocent farmers from the state had attained martyrdom,” he said bemoaning that ironically, these leaders shared a platform with those who are facing charges of embezzlement in the money meant for memorials constructed in the name of martyrs.
 
Mann reminded the Punjabis that these leaders had never come together for protecting the waters of the state nor even for punishing the perpetrators of the sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji.
 
Likewise, the Chief Minister said that history is testimony to the fact that these leaders have never joined hands for the issues pertaining to the state but now they have come together just to save their skin. “These leaders have no concern for progress, prosperity and peace of the state but their single point agenda is to safeguard their own interests. But I assure every Punjabi that these leaders will be made accountable for their sins and they will have to return every penny plundered from the state exchequer,” he added.
 
Responding to the Chief Minister’s tweet, Majithia took a dig at Bhagwant Mann, in the same poetic style, for his alleged drinking habit, for doing politics on the martyrs’ memorial, for hugging the family responsible for the attack on Golden Temple, and for imposing section 144 on gurdwaras.
 
Majithia also flayed Mann for being deplaned for drinking, for visit Akal Takht in inebriated condition, abandoning his children, implicating youths under NSA, withdrawing security of Punjab rapper Sidhu Moosewala which led to his murder and getting gangster Lawrence Bishnoi on TV.
 
That was not all! Majithia further took on Mann for lying about Goldy Brar’s extradition, for BMW setting up a unit in Punjab, replacing Bhagat Singh’s pictures, guaranteeing to supply water to Haryana through SYL, getting Punjab remote-controlled through Delhi and for naming undertrials sitting in jail to prominent posts.
 
He also alleged Mann’s role in burdening Punjab with a loan of Rs 45,000 crore, not taking action against the Cabinet Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak, and spending Sundays with a tweet after drinking.
 
Joining in, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Sidhu, who also patched up with Majithia after several years in the Jalandhar’s all-party meeting, took attacked the Chief Minister by sharing Mann’s old video speaking about holding Sidhu in high esteem, describing him as “most honest”, and even welcoming him to the AAP.
 
Sidhu, in his poetic tweet in Punjabi, lashed out at Mann by accusing him of misusing vigilance, taking commission for mafia, becoming a pawn remote-controlled from Delhi, muzzling the media, playing  politics, spoiling law and order, pledging to quit drinking by invoking his mother, using  martyrs’ yellow turban and turning it into a groom’s sehra and for “lecturing on ethics”.
 
Notably, all the opposition parties in the state had held a joint event in Jalandhar, the previous week, targeting the AAP-led State Government for running a vendetta against political rivals. The parties, including Congress, SAD, BJP, had rallied behind the editor of a prominent daily against whom the vigilance bureau had issued a notice in connection with the construction of a memorial for martyrs.
 
In a rare photo op, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu had openly hugged his bitter political rival and Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia on the dais. Reacting to this so-called bonhomie, Mann took to Twitter to target the opposition parties.
 
After the event where Sidhu hugged Majithia, the Akali leader had tweeted praying for the good health of Sidhu’s wife Dr Navjot Kaur who is unwell and under medical observation.