As the Punjab Assembly elections draw closer, growing resentment among government employees over pending financial and service-related demands has emerged as a fresh political challenge for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.The state-level rally scheduled to be held in Chandigarh on August 7 is expected to draw thousands of employees from across the state, reflecting growing dissatisfaction over issues, including the non-payment of pending Dearness Allowance (DA), salary anomalies and other pending demands.Unlike the last Assembly elections when a majority of the government employees had supported the AAP, this time, the former feel that they were cheated by the party by not fulfilling the promises made to them before the elections.The rally has been called by various organisations after weeks of protests and demonstrations by various government departments. Ministerial employees of all government departments, who are on a pen-down strike for the past two days, before proceeding on mass leave to participate in the Chandigarh protest, are the main driving force behind this protest.Several other worker unions have also extended support to the agitation, making it one of the largest coordinated protests by government staff in recent months.Punjab State Ministerial Staff Union leader Jagdish Thakur said, “The AAP government had promised to bring back the old pension scheme. It even made announcements regarding this and issued advertisements taking credit for bringing back the OPS. However, to date nothing has been done.”With the elections nearing, most other unions are trying to exert pressure on the government. Last week, a series of protests by employees of the Revenue Department, Health Department and other government offices were witnessed. The agitation affected the routine public services in several districts. The employees have accused the government of delaying the resolution of issues that remained pending for several years despite repeated representations and assurances.Among the key demands are the release of pending Dearness Allowance instalments and arrears, removal of salary anomalies, implementation of pending promotional benefits, filling of vacant posts, regularisation of contractual employees and resolution of other service-related grievances. Union leaders have maintained that the agitation aims at securing long overdue justice for government workers and warned that the protests could intensify if the government failed to respond positively.The timing of the agitation assumes political significance as the state gears up for the Assembly elections.The state government employees, who constitute a sizeable and influential voter base, have historically played an important role in shaping public opinion during election campaigns. Political observers believe the outcome of the ongoing negotiations between the government and employee representatives could have electoral implications if the discontent continues.