India, Aug. 30 -- State government's handling of long-pending demands may shape employee sentiment ahead of the Assembly elections.

Punjab's government employees have turned their accumulated grievances into a political problem for the Aam Aadmi Party, with demands over dearness allowance, pensions, pay scales and service conditions now threatening to become an election issue less than a year before the 2027 Assembly polls. The scale of the agitation has unsettled the Bhagwant Mann government. Employee organisations representing regular, contractual and retired government workers have been demanding the release of pending DA instalments, implementation of the Old Pension Scheme, revision of pensions, restoration of withdrawn allowances a...