Gangster and criminal activities have increased in Punjab, leading to a growing sense of insecurity among ordinary citizens, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini said on Sunday, while accusing the opposition Congress and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab of working in tandem and sharing a similar ideology.Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini offers prayers at the Mata Bhadra Kali Temple located in Shekhupur, in Kapurthala on Sunday. (@NayabSainiBJP X)Saini was in Kapurthala to offer prayers at the Mata Bhadrakali Temple and to attend various party outreach programmes. While speaking to the media, Saini said that during the recently held municipal elections in Punjab, law and order were allegedly compromised. However, AAP officials were not immediately available to respond to Saini’s allegations at the time of writing this report.“By conducting the civic elections using ballot papers, the Punjab government demonstrated that it was apprehensive about facing defeat in a transparent democratic process,” Saini said.The CM also accused the AAP government of failing to fulfil its pre-election promises. “The public now understands that development cannot be achieved merely through big announcements and false assurances. The AAP government should inform people how many of the promises made during elections have actually been fulfilled,” Saini said.While speaking about AAP’s anti-drug campaign, ‘Yudh Nasheyan Virudh’ in Punjab, Saini said that the campaign has “failed to deliver” the expected results. “Instead of taking concrete measures to protect the youth from drug abuse and eradicate the menace, the focus was more on publicity. The government should have made more serious efforts in this direction... The desired outcomes are not visible on the ground,” he said, adding that people want development, good governance, and accountability in politics and will no longer be satisfied with mere promises.Visits Dera Beas Earlier in the day, Saini visited Dera Radha Soami Satsang Beas near Amritsar and paid a courtesy call on Dera chief Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon. During the meeting, Saini sought his blessings and held discussions on various social and spiritual issues, an official statement said.After his visit to the Dera, Saini visited Kapurthala, where he offered prayers at Mata Bhadrakali Temple and interacted with people in the Circular Road Market area of Kapurthala.‘Captain Amarinder widely respected within party’Saini also refuted the reports of any sort of rift within the state unit of the party after former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh publicly expressed his discontentment over the appointment of Kewal Singh Dhillon as state chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party.Saini said being a senior leader of the party, Captain Amarinder can express his own views openly, as he is among the party’s senior leaders and is widely respected within the organisation. “There is no internal factionalism as BJP in Punjab remains fully united. All the leaders and workers are working together to strengthen the party,” Saini said.Captain Amarinder has publicly expressed that he was not consulted before Dhillon’s elevation. Amarinder stated that with elections around the corner, the party needs someone who can fight for the cadre, but Dhillon had lost four consecutive elections and won only twice. He expressed that the party should have pondered over all these issues before appointing him the BJP chief in Punjab.