The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is facing sharp accusations of political vendetta after a team from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) stormed a unit of the Trident Group – owned by Rajya Sabha defector Rajender Gupta – just a week after he switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
As HT reported earlier, a PPCB team of at least 18 officials in six vehicles reached around 2 pm at the textile unit of Trident Group in Dhaula, Punjab on Thursday and conducted an inspection that lasted several hours, people familiar with the raid said.
Congress alleges hypocrisy, BJP screams revenge
The BJP was quick to link the timing of the raid to Gupta’s recent political shift. BJP Punjab working president Ashwani Sharma alleged that the “PPCB raid on Trident reeks of political vendetta”.
“Gupta’s only mistake was that he dared to join the BJP for the betterment of Punjab, which made him a target of the state government,” he said, accusing AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of trying to “settle political scores”.
However, Congress smelled hypocrisy, questioning the AAP government. “Why are Kejriwal and Mann criticizing BJP for misusing ED, CBI and other agencies? This is exactly what AAP is doing to intimidate its opponents,” Sukhpal Singh Khaira wrote on X.
Meanwhile, the AAP maintained that the allegations were baseless and described the search as a routine exercise.
Party spokesman Neil Garg said the inspection was routine. “Whenever there is a complaint, it is the duty of the board to conduct verification,” he added, stressing that neither the party nor the state government has any role.
Responding to the opposition, he asked: “Can they cite a single case where they filed a complaint against this company and no action was taken?”
Previous charges against Trident
Even as political allegations have spread, the Trident unit has previously faced scrutiny over environmental concerns.
In 2022, farmers associated with the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) held protests in Barnala, Moga, Ludhiana, Amritasar and Patiala, alleging pollution generated by the plant and its impact on crops.
They have claimed that untreated or poorly treated wastewater discharged by the plant is polluting soil and affecting agricultural production — concerns that now add context to the latest inspection.
What the inspection found
Officials said the exercise was part of environmental compliance checks. “The team collected samples of liquid waste, groundwater and other relevant materials, to ensure strict adherence to environmental safety norms,” a PPCB official said, adding, “The team left at 7.30 pm.”
While PPCB chief Renu Gupta did not respond to queries, Barnala executive engineer Surinderjit Singh said he was not aware of the raid.
On the ground, company representatives confirmed the visit but remained under guard. Rupinder Gupta, who runs Trident outlets in Sanghera and Dhaula, said a PPCB team inspected the premises, but he also refused to go into details.
High-level defection
The raid comes against the backdrop of a major political setback for the Justice and Development Party.
On April 24, seven Rajya Sabha MPs – two-thirds of its strength in the Senate – defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The group included Gupta along with Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Kumar Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Vikramjit Singh Sahni and Swati Maliwal.
Gupta, a Padma Shri awardee and founder of Trident Group, was sworn in as a Member of Parliament for the Rajya Sabha in November last year. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential businessmen in Punjab, and his net worth is estimated to be more than that $10,600 crores.
