Four-and-a-half years ago, Punjab government employees had given Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann a rousing welcome when he first arrived at the Civil Secretariat after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the 2022 Assembly elections. But in a striking contrast on Friday, the same government workers launched a protest against Mann and state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, demanding the payment of pending dearness allowance (DA).As the Sanjha Mulazam and Pensioners’ Front and the Sanjha Mulazam Manch, organisations representing government employees, led thousands of workers and pensioners in the protest at the Sector 39 grain market in Chandigarh, visuals flooded social media contrasting the protests with Mann’s reception in 2022.AdvertisementThe dispute is rooted in a simple calculation. Government employees say the AAP government has released only one 4% DA instalment – covering July-December 2022 – which was released in December 2023 only after a 40-day strike. Since January 2023, they claim no further instalments have been released, taking the pending DA payments to 18% as of January 1, 2026.Workers in over 50 government departments observed a mass casual leave on Friday, according to the employee organisations. While not all of them reached Chandigarh to attend the demonstration, the scale of the protest brought government functioning across the state to a virtual halt.While their immediate demand is the release of the pending DA payments, union leaders insist the agitation has now moved beyond arrears and become a question of self-respect and political influence. “The agitation of employees is just not about getting the pending DA, but also to show them our strength can make or break a government. They think only a few lakhs won’t make any difference, but their maths has gone wrong,” said Sukhchain Khehra, president of the Sanjha Mulazam and Pensioners’ Front.AdvertisementKhehra said the political significance of the government employee and pensioner vote could not be ignored. “Around 8 lakh voters are the government employees and pensioners in Punjab, and if you add our families and extended families, they will be close to 40-50 lakh voters… So the party that gets these votes… they are going to have a bright chance of forming the next government in Punjab,” he added.Gursewak Singh, president of the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union (PSMSU), recalled the previous Congress government’s handling of employees’ demands. “In the previous Congress government, then Finance minister Manpreet Badal had undermined us and asked what only 2% of the total voters could do… The result was before everyone in 2022. Manpreet Badal himself lost his seat,” he said.Employees say they had actively supported the AAP in 2022. “Ever since the government has come to power, they have focused on defaming government employees… Now it is a matter of self-respect more than getting only the pending DA instalment,” said an office-bearer of the Sanjha Mulazam and Pensioners’ Front.Govt reactionThe government moved quickly after the protest, with the CM’s office inviting the employees’ coordination committee to a meeting with Mann on August 27.The invitation, however, failed to pacify the protesting employees, who announced a ‘Punjab Maha Bandh’ for the same day. “We have announced our bandh on the same day, which means a complete shutdown of all work in government departments… If the Punjab CM can bring forward the meeting, we can think of attending it… Even if a delegation attends the August 27 meeting, the bandh will continue on the same day,” Khehra said.The Punjab government, meanwhile, said it remained committed to resolving its employees’ issues through discussions, stating it “stands firmly with its employees and has always worked for their welfare”.But the dispute also has a legal dimension, with the Punjab and Haryana High Court on August 3 directing the state government to release pending DA instalments, holding that financial constraints could not be used as grounds for withholding accrued service benefits.Political falloutHowever, the protests have also opened a new political front in Punjab ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls.Former Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar demanded immediate release of the pending DA, saying, “The AAP government continues to spend on political advertisements while refusing to release the pending DA. The Department of Public Relations has been politicised to such an extent that it neither cares about the directions of the High Court, nor fears contempt of court… This government’s departure is inevitable, but it is the officials who will ultimately have to face the consequences of these unlawful actions.”you may likeSources said BJP leaders had reached out to protesting employees, claiming if the party came to power in 2027, the DA arrears would be released with interest. The BJP was reportedly even willing to make such an announcement at the demonstration on Friday, but employee organisations kept political parties away, insisting the rally remain focused on their demands.Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, meanwhile, also compared the AAP government’s 2022 welcome to Friday’s protests. “Those who ushered in the AAP in Punjab with flowers will now ensure its rout. Punjab’s employees and pensioners have sent a clear and loud message to ‘Guru Dokhi’ Bhagwant Mann: You cannot ignore and do injustice to the people who actually run this state… This is the beginning of the end of your tyranny.”Partap Singh Bajwa, Congress MLA and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said, “I extend my full support to the protesting Punjab government employees in their legitimate fight for their rightful dues… The Congress and I stand firmly with them and will support their movement in whatever manner they deem necessary until their genuine demands are met.”