Trashing Sukhpal Singh Khaira’s ridiculous statement accusing him of toeing the Centre’s line, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday charged the leader of the newly formed Punjabi Ekta Party (PEP) of resorting to atrocious falsehoods and gimmickry in a desperate bid to remain in the headlines ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.Having been unceremoniously thrown out of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Khaira was now indulging in all kinds of fabrications and tricks to remain in public limelight, said the Chief Minister, lashing out at the former leader of the Opposition over his senseless and reckless allegations, which were not only unfounded but smacked of a total disregard for political ethics and morality.Khaira has always been in the habit of talking out of the hat, without any respect for the veracity of his statements, said Captain Amarinder Singh, trashing the PEP leader’s baseless allegations as a pack of brazen lies. He challenged Khaira to prove even a single allegation made by the former AAPtard against his government or him personally, or else quit the political stage for good.This was evident from Khaira’s statement on the functioning of the Punjab Police, pointed out the Chief Minister, adding that contrary to what the former AAP leader was projecting, DGP Suresh Arora had already ruled out extension and the state government had sent its panel of suggestions for the new head of the state police. Where, then, was the question of Arora being given extension at the behest of NSA chief Ajit Doval, asked Captain Amarinder Singh.Khaira obviously had no clue about the functioning of the police department, or for that matter of any democratically elected government, said Captain Amarinder Singh, asking the PEP leader to refrain from attempting to deceive the people of Punjab with his irresponsible statements. The people were too intelligent to believe his blatantly misleading statement that the state police was functioning under the Centre’s control, or that the latter was in any way manipulating the state government, said the Chief Minister.On Khaira’s allegation of the Congress and the Akalis (who are allies of the ruling BJP at the Centre) being hand in glove in Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh pointed out that AAP, of which Khaira had then been a part, had tried unsuccessfully to play a similar game during the Assembly polls campaign in 2017. The tactics had backfired then on AAP and will backfire now on Khaira’s party, he added.It was unfortunate, said the Chief Minister, that, bereft of any constructive issue to oppose the ruling Congress in Punjab, the various political parties in the state were indulging in all kinds of untruths and political stunts in their desperation to stay alive in the electoral arena.