Badal's 'Gurpreet-Pay' QR Code Salvo Targets Mann's Wife Ahead of Punjab Polls

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal has sharpened his attack on the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, alleging that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's wife, Gurpreet Kaur, accepted money to settle criminal cases. Speaking at a 'Punjab Bachao' rally in Nihal Singh Wala, Moga district, on Wednesday, the former deputy chief minister used wordplay to press the charge, displaying posters bearing a QR code that he called "Gurpreet-Pay" — a play on Google's payment app.

Badal said he had seen such posters on village walls and claimed they could be found in SAS Nagar (Mohali), Ludhiana, Patiala, Ferozepur, Kotkapura, Moga and Pathankot, including in neighbourhoods, colleges, universities and market areas. Scanning the code, he said, leads to a 32-minute audio conversation purportedly discussing a deal between a relative of Gurpreet Kaur and another person to secure a clean chit for an accused in an alleged rape case involving two victims.

The Akali Dal leader further claimed the audio captures a discussion about shifting the accused from a jail in Amritsar to one in Patiala, where he would be supplied opium by the authorities without obstruction. He alleged that the state government was taking money to whitewash crimes, saying drug smugglers and other offenders could approach the chief minister's household to have their cases pardoned.

The allegations surface as Gurpreet Kaur faces accusations that one of her relatives demanded Rs 5 crore to help a rape accused obtain a clean chit. Both the Chief Minister and his wife have denied the charge and alleged defamation by Akali leaders, while the AAP has rejected the accusations as defamatory. The confrontation comes barely six months ahead of the Punjab elections.