Days after Rajinder Gupta’s switch from AAP to BJP, Punjab pollution board raids Trident unit: Report

A team of more than 10 officials from the Punjab Pollution Control Board raided Trident Group’s Dhaula unit in Barnala district on Thursday evening, days after Padma Shri recipient and Trident Group chairman emeritus Rajinder Gupta switched from the Aam Aadmi Party to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the team arrived in around four vehicles and remained inside the premises till the filing of this report.

The action came after a political shift on April 24, when seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs, including Gupta, joined the BJP. Gupta had taken oath as a Rajya Sabha MP in October last year after the seat fell vacant when AAP’s Sanjeev Arora won the Ludhiana West bypoll, joined the Punjab Cabinet and later resigned from the Upper House.

Punjab Industry Minister Sanjeev Arora had earlier claimed that Gupta had returned to the AAP fold, but there was no such confirmation from Gupta. The Dhaula unit has also faced scrutiny in the past. In July 2022, farmers affiliated with BKU (Ugrahan) staged protests alleging water pollution and foul smell from the industrial premises. Trident management had denied the allegations, and no action was taken by the AAP government at the time.

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Political tensions have also escalated on the ground, with AAP workers protesting against the MPs who switched sides. Slogans such as “gaddar” were spray-painted on walls outside Gupta’s residence in Ludhiana and his factory in Barnala, the report said. Similar protests were reported outside Lovely Professional University, owned by Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal, and at the residence of cricketer-turned-MP Harbhajan Singh on April 25 and 26.

Gupta has had a long association with successive Punjab governments. He served as vice-chairman of the Punjab State Planning Board during both the SAD-BJP government from 2012 to 2017 and the Congress government from 2017 to 2022, a post equivalent to Cabinet rank. After AAP came to power, he was appointed vice-chairman of the Punjab State Economic Policy and Planning Board in June 2022, also a position equivalent to Cabinet rank, and resigned from the post before entering the Rajya Sabha.

The raid on Gupta’s group has come amid heightened political tension following the switch by seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs to the BJP, with protests on the ground, renewed focus on the Dhaula unit, and the BJP alleging that the action was politically motivated.