Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today alleged that he was harassed by the Customs Department at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi for nearly two hours after returning from Paris. He linked the incident to the Aam Aadmi Party’s demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.Mann alleged that the action was intended as retaliation for the AAP’s stand against the CEC. He referred to Manish Kumar, senior Customs official, as Gyanesh Kumar’s brother.The controversy relates to Mann’s return from Paris earlier this week. According to reports, Customs officials inspected the baggage accompanying the Chief Minister and his wife, Gurpreet Kaur, and a penalty of Rs 50,000 was subsequently imposed. The AAP alleged that Mann had to wait at the airport for over two hours before being allowed to leave.The incident has triggered a political exchange between the AAP and the BJP, with the Punjab ruling party alleging that central agencies and officials were being used to target its leadership. The official social media of BJP have been posting that designer shoes, belt and other expensive accessories were found in the luggage of Mann. Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s assertion that the National Democratic Alliance would form the government in Punjab, Mann said the decision would rest with the people of the state. “Amit Shah cannot decide who will form the government. It is the three crore Punjabis who will decide,” he said.On the BJP’s claim that it could dismantle the illicit drug trade in Punjab within two years of coming to power, Mann referred to the tenure of the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government from 2007 to 2017. He said the biggest drug cartels had flourished in Punjab during that period. Referring to Shah’s statement on the seizure of narcotics worth Rs 20,000 crore at ports, Mann said the AAP had been maintaining that drugs entered the country through ports under the Centre’s control.The exchange comes amid a political confrontation over the drug menace in Punjab and the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa. The BJP has accused the AAP government of failing to curb drug trafficking, while the state government has handed over the probe into Jhota’s killing to CBI. On the Congress walkout during the Assembly proceedings, Mann said the party should participate in discussions instead of disrupting proceedings. “The Congress only knows how to make noise. First, they say the session is not convened, and then they do not attend. They should participate in the discussion,” he said.