The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said it was shameful that a drug accused who was facing grave charges of being the king pin of an international drug racket with Pakistani connections was inviting Congress legislators to join his party to stake claim to form the next government. In a statement here, party spokesman Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Sikander Singh Maluka said what was even more shocking was that the same person - Sukhpal Khaira was inviting Congress mlas to join AAP under his leadership when a large section of the AAP legislature party had demanded his resignation as leader of opposition. Terming the latest gimmick of Sukhpal Khaira as another vulgar attempt to divert attention from the grave charges levelled against him, the Akali leaders asked Khaira to explain why he arm twisted the AAP high command to force the AAP mlas in Punjab to support him after a virtual revolt in the party.
"The AAP high command has averted a split in the Punjab unit even though some AAP mlas are still opposed to Khaira and refused to attend a party meeting held to drum up support for him. This shows that Sukhpal Khaira has some control over the AAP high command. The SAD has even asked AAP Convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to come clean but he has refused to do so indicating he might also be compromised by Khaira. There is no other reason for Kejriwal to shelter Khaira. It's obvious Kejriwal fears his name could be disclosed as a direct beneficiary of the drug money which has been shown received as election fund", they added. Asking Khaira to first earn the support of the AAP legislature party, Mr Grewal and Mr Maluka said such cheap tactics would not help his cause. "You have been summoned as an accused in a drug case in which the co accused have been awarded a 20 year sentence. You should accordingly present yourself in the relevant court and submit to the process of law instead of trying to mislead Punjabis by continuing to defame your adversaries", the Akali leaders added.