Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday said Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had sublet governance of the state to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
Addressing party workers during the party’s campaign for the Sangrur by-poll in Dirba Assembly constituency, for party candidate Kamaldeep Kaur Rajoana, Badal said Mann and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had befooled the people of the state in the same way as done by Captain Amarinder Singh earlier during the 2017 Assembly polls.
“Don’t think that women will get Rs 1,000 per month as promised (by AAP). The promised 300 units of free power will also not be given. Even schemes initiated by former CM Parkash Singh Badal including the ‘aata-daal’ scheme, shagun scheme, and the old-age pension have been disrupted. This AAP government has given nothing and has taken the state to the brink of disaster with the total breakdown in the law and order,” he added.
The SAD chief said Mann abandoned the people of Sangrur after taking over the reins of the state as the Chief Minister.
He said immediately after becoming the chief minister, Mann failed to conduct a thanksgiving tour of his constituency as well as the Sangrur parliamentary seat which had elected him to the Lok Sabha twice.
“No development work has been initiated in the Sangrur parliamentary constituency and even ongoing works have been stopped,” he added.
Appealing to the people to support the candidature of Rajoana, the SAD president said “A vote for Rajoana is a vote to free all Bandi Singhs (Sikh prisoners) who are in jail even after completion of their life sentences. I appeal to Punjabis to unite as one and elect Rajoana to the Lok Sabha to free Sikh detenues and reunite them with their families,”.
Badal claimed Rajoana’s immediate family was also a victim of police atrocities with her elder sister and brother being killed and their house being burnt. “This happened despite the fact that Rajaona’s father had served in the army and had fought for the country,” he added.
Rajoana is the sister of Balwant Singh Rajoana who is convicted in former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s assassination case She is the joint candidate of the SAD, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and panthic (Sikh religious).