Amritsar- Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today said chief minister Bhagwant Mann and home minister Amit Shah were one and that the former would part ways with AAP to form a parallel party with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) support soon.
Addressing massive public gatherings in Ajnala and Raja Sansi in support of party candidate Anil Joshi, the SAD president said the chief minister had been holding talks with the union home minister and it was only a matter of time before he ditched AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal and formed his own parallel party in Punjab.
Urging Punjabis to unite as one to thwart this conspiracy, Mr Sukhbir Badal appealed to them to seal the borders of the State with their votes in the same manner in which the BJP government had sealed the borders to prevent farmers from marching to Delhi in league with the AAP government in Punjab. He also assured the people that the SAD would never compromise on the prestige of the State. “We will continue to fight to safeguard the rights of Punjab come what may”.
Mr Badal also took on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for attacking the Khalsa Panth. “This started immediately after we left the NDA government in support of farmers and against the three black laws framed by the central government to hand over control of the agriculture sector to corporates”. He said since then, the BJP had worked overtime to hand over control of the Sri Hazur Sahib gurdwara committee and the Patna Sahib gurdwara committee to the RSS. He also urged Punjabis not to forget the atrocities inflicted on the Sikh community by the Congress which had attacked Sri Darbar Sahib with tanks and mortars and had massacred thousands of Sikhs in 1984.
Senior leader Bikram Singh Majithia also condemned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its Punjab president Sunil Jakhar for insulting farmers by calling them anti-nationals in a representation to the Election Commission. “This seems to be a sinister attempt to get the election postponed by giving one excuse or the other. But in reality, the truth is that the BJP wants to run away from contesting the election as it is being shunned by Punjabis”.
The SAD leader also lambasted BJP candidate Taranjit Singh Sandhu for calling farmers goons and anti-nationals only because they were protesting against the BJP because they had been denied justice by the BJP led central government. He also exposed the BJP candidate’s claim that he would get Rs 800 crore into the constituency. “I have read the fine print. The Rs 800 crore Sandhu is claiming he will get to the constituency will be in the form of a loan. AAP has already taken a loan of Rs 1 lakh crore in the last two years and the State debt is at Rs 3.75 lakh crore. Sandhu wants to increase this even further”.
Mr Majithia also asserted that chief minister Bhagwant Mann was the Eknath Shinde of Punjab. “The moment the BJP puts even a little pressure on him he will run and join the BJP’s camp”. He said the chief minister had done nothing for Punjab except denying compensation and social welfare benefits to farmers. “All Bhagwant Mann has done is open 3, 000 new liquor shops besides frittering away the State’s treasury to finance Aam Aadmi Party’s election campaign in other States.
A large number of Sarpanch and former sarpanches and block samiti members joined the SAD from the Congress and AAP on the occasion. Senior leaders Vir Singh Lopoke, Jodh Singh Samra and Raja Rajwinder Singh Ladeh were also present on the occasion.