The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today castigated the bullying and pressurizing tactics being employed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal to browbeat the people of Punjab into supportingit in the 2017 assembly elections. In a statement senior SAD leader S. Daljit Singh Cheema said the coercive methods adopted by Kejriwal in the form of malicious tele-calls leveling most vicious and malevolent allegations against the SAD-BJP government in Punjab and giving a veiled threat to masses amounted to a total disregard for democratic norms which deserved condemnation by civil society. He also requested the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to take immediate notice of this unscrupulous practice by the AAP convener.Telling Kejriwal not to use threatening language with Punjabis, the SAD leader said this former IT officer who didn’t spare a moment in showcasing himself as the champion of all things constitutional and moral, had now turned berserk and was resorting to despicable methods sensing his rout in next year’s polls. The SAD leader also said that this attitude by AAP Convener speaks of his defeatist psyche.
Lampooning Kejriwal for squandering the hard earned money of the people of Delhi on self promotion in Punjab, the SAD leader said it is really a matter of grave concern that AAP leader has been so overcome by the lust of acquiring power in Punjab that he has been frittering away resources which should be utilized for development of Delhi. According to the SAD leader, it is highly probable that Kejriwal would not bat an eyelid in lavish spending and exploiting of Punjab’s resources on capturing power in other states thus continuing the vicious cycle of sheer wastage of assets.Giving a befitting reply to the oft repeated chest thumping by Kejriwal on probity in public life and adherence to the righteous norms, the SAD leader in his poser to Kejriwal asked him where was this concern when he allowed corruption by his transport minister Gopal Rai and Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar, when his ex-minister Somnath Bharti was embroiled in domestic violence case and another named Jitendra Tomar was in the news for possessing fake degree in Law. He said similarly Kejriwal did not lift a finger when Kumar Vishwaas was accused of molesting a female worker of AAP, when ‘Piau Sahib’ at Gurudwara Sisganj Sahib in Delhi was demolished and when he turned his back towards Punjab on crucial SYL issue.Asking Kejriwal to desist from fomenting trouble in Punjab for his narrow political gains, the SAD leader said the SAD-BJP Government was committed to maintaining peace and communal harmony at any cost.