Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate for the Lok Sabha by-poll for Sangrur constituency Gurmail Singh on Tuesday accused the Congress of  politicising the killing of popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala to seek   sympathy votes.

Addressing door-to-door meetings in over 20 villages and towns in the constituency today, Gurmail said Congress is misusing the name of Moosewala in each event during the campaigning in Sangrur by-poll.

“Disregarding the appeal of grieving parents of Sidhu Moosewala over using his name, Raja Warring in a public meeting on Tuesday again attempted to get sympathy votes on his death. It is very disheartening and condemnable,” Gurmail said.

Accusing Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring for the politicising unfortunate death of the popular Punjabi singer, the AAP candidate said Congress should stop playing dirty politics over the slain singer’s death.

He said Congress used Moosewala’s photos in the party’s election song released in favour of the party candidate Dalvir Singh Goldy for Sangrur bypolls.

Attacking Shiromani Akali Dal for using the “panthic card” in the by-poll, he said the SAD chief Sukhbir Badal didn’t raise the issue of Sikh prisoners when they had been running the government in Punjab as an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during 2007-2017 besides being part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre from 2014 to 2021.
Gurmail Singh said Akali Dal is so frightened this time that they have not even featured their photographs including party patron Parkash Singh Badal, president Sukhbir Singh Badal, former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and senior leader Bikram Singh Majithia in the election campaign materials in Sangrur.

He said after 1966, the Congress party ruled for 25 years in Punjab and Akali Dal for 20 years. During their tenure, they looted the state.

“The AAP government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, has changed the political scenario in the state within just three months by combating corruption, drugs and the mining mafia being controlled by these leaders. Due to this, opposition leaders are now perturbed and joined together to run fake propaganda against the AAP government,” said Gurmail.

He said the Akali Dal and Congress were in alliance and looted Punjab for decades.