Sukhbir’s attack on AAP: State in hands of Delhi trio, CM Mann nowhere
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal, while attacking the ruling party in the state, said: “Punjab is in the hands of a trio from Delhi who know they have only one-and-a-half years left to rule the state, hence they have increased the pace of looting it. In fact, Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain are ruling the state and CM Bhagwant Mann is nowhere to be seen, reduced to being a puppet in the hands of the Delhi leaders.”
Sukhbir questioned under what capacity Jain and Sisodia were holding meetings with Punjab bureaucrats.
“I am proud of the Indian Army for the way it protected Punjab and the country as a whole during the recent war between India and Pakistan,” he said while addressing a press conference in Ludhiana. “Punjab is one state in the country that faced 60 per cent more attacks than other states but the armed forces and their advanced air defence system saved it.”
He also thanked the Prime Minister.
Regarding the Army’s statement that Golden Temple was among prime targets set by the Pakistan army and that the air defence system installed there prevented the attack, Sukhbir replied that he was abroad and unaware of the SGPC’s statement in this regard. However, he knew that the Indian Army had bravely prevented the attack.
Taking a jibe at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the SAD chief said under the guise of land acquisition, the party was set to collect crores from businessmen, traders, farmers and others. Sukhbir also held a closed-door meeting with local party leadership. SAD West constituency candidate Parupkar Singh Ghuman was also present.
When asked about the possibility of an alliance with the BJP or any other party in the future, he said the SAD was open to an alliance with any party that would stand for the rights of Punjab and Punjabis, without naming any specific party.
Meanwhile, Sukhbir said on Tuesday that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had initiated a multi-hundred crore scam by allowing land owners to secure change of land use (CLU) in back date to allow exemptions in land acquisition in villages in the vicinity of the city. “At a time when the government is not able to provide even basic facilities, it has decided to acquire 24,311 acres of land in villages adjacent to Ludhiana. Since the land owners will not be able to sell the land once the land acquisition notice is issued, a scam has been initiated to exempt all those who pay Rs 1 crore per acre in AAP coffers. The scam is ongoing in other cities also, including Mohali where the AAP government has issued acquisition notices despite its inability to develop 6,000 acres of land acquired earlier,” he said.
Asserting that never before in the history of the state had such a thing happened, the SAD president said: “We will not allow this daylight robbery to succeed under any cost. We will not allow any land to be acquired without taking consent of farmers.”
He announced that the party would stage a massive protest outside the office of the Chief Administrator, GLADA, on May 31.
Ludhiana