Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab president and chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann on Monday said the people of the state have voted in large numbers for change this time and to bring an honest government in the state.

Thanking voters of Punjab for voting peacefully across the state on Sunday, Mann congratulated the people of Punjab for faithfully performing their democratic duty. Nearly 72 percent of voters exercised their franchise in the single-phase Punjab Assembly election for 117 seats on Sunday.  “The peaceful conduct of elections across Punjab bears witness that Punjabis have exercised their right to make a difference,” he said, thanking volunteers and workers of the Aam Aadmi Party for working tirelessly during the election campaign.

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Meanwhile, senior AAP leader Harpal Singh Cheema today accused the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of betraying Punjab and Punjabis. Cheema said SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia had exposed the face of SAD-BJP in front of the people of Punjab by saying that SAD would again ally with BJP to form a government in Punjab.

Cheema claimed that a coalition government of SAD-BJP, Capt Amarinder Singh (Punjab Lok Congress chief) could be formed on Mars, but the voters of Punjab had completely rejected SAD (Badal), BJP and Capt Amarinder Singh. He said the claim made by SAD leader Bikram Majithia on the day of polls to form a government with BJP proved that SAD only sever the ties with them to woo the votes of farmers and labourers.

The AAP leader said that SAD and BJP were always on the same page about farm laws and Majithia’s statement again reflected it. He said that SAD had an internal political alliance with BJP even today but to deceive the people of Punjab SAD had only pretended to separate from BJP.

Cheema said SAD (Badal) and Amarinder had always betrayed Punjab and Punjabis. He said that statement showed that SAD, BJP and Amarinder Singh had contested separately as a public show while internally SAD-BJP and Captain were together. He said that SAD supported anti-farmer agricultural laws in the central government but dueto the pressure of farmers’ agitation Badals pretended to sever ties with BJP. And, Majithia has removed the veil from that drama today.

Cheema said that it was due to the SAD-BJP alliance that no action was taken against Bikram Majithia even after many legal cases against him.