Chandigarh: Though state BJP president Subhash Barala’s son Vikas Barala was arrested today for stalking senior bureaucrat Virender Kundu’s daughter Varnika Kundu, the four-day-long drama has dented the BJP government’s image badly.

Chandigarh: Though state BJP president Subhash Barala’s son Vikas Barala was arrested today for stalking senior bureaucrat Virender Kundu’s daughter Varnika Kundu, the four-day-long drama has dented the BJP government’s image badly.

The episode has also exposed the functioning of the Chandigarh Police, hitherto perceived as one of the most professional forces of the country. The manner in which the Chandigarh Police released Vikas and his friend on bail on Saturday last after first announcing that it was a kidnapping case and then reintroducing the sections of the IPC into the FIR today, putting a question mark on their functioning. Questions are also being raised over the wisdom of huge funds spent by the police on CCTV cameras installed in the city when most of them were non-functional when required.

The incident occurred at a time when Haryana is celebrating Manohar Lal Khattar government’s 1,000 days in power by an intensive advertisement blitzkrieg in the media. It also coincided with the last day of the three-day visit of BJP president Amit Shah, who had announced during his sojourn that the next elections would be contested under Khattar. Just when the government could have been in high spirits, the incident made nationwide headlines, denting the government’s image badly.

The government’s “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” campaign, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched, was mocked at on social media. “These is a minor change. This time it is Beta Bachao,” says a cartoon posted on WhatsApp groups, Facebook and Twitter, pointing to the BJP government’s efforts to save Vikas Barala.