SAD, BSP stage dharna against AAP govt in Punjab

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and its ally Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Friday staged a dharna here over the alleged “misrule” of the AAP government in Punjab and accused it of reneging on its promises.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the state has completed one year. It stormed to power after the 2022 Punjab assembly elections, winning 92 of the total 117 seats.

SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal slammed the Bhagwant Mann government over various issues, including law and order.

He claimed that the current state of affairs in the state was leading to the flight of industry from Punjab and even the common man was feeling unsafe, according to a party statement.

Alleging that the chief minister was busy in “vendetta politics”, Badal said, “The day is not far when (CM) Bhagwant Mann will be booked for withdrawing the security cover of singer Sidhu Moosewala and advertising the same.” Mann will also face the heat in matters of corruption including the excise scam which had led to a loss of Rs 500 crore to the state exchequer, he said.

Badal alleged that the chief minister has forsaken Punjab and was busy in Madhya Pradesh because the state was going to the polls this year.

“Earlier, the chief minister was busy in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat assembly elections,” the SAD leader said.

He accused Mann of frittering away the resources of Punjab and claimed that as much as Rs 750 crore was earmarked for “advertising the AAP across the country, especially in those states which were going to the polls”.

It was because of this that cuts have been imposed on social welfare schemes like “atta-daal”, “shagun” and old-age pension, Badal claimed.

Similar dharnas were also held in other parts of the state by the party as well.