Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Punjab Chief Minister candidate Bhagwant Mann ridiculed Captain and asked him that if he was receiving calls and messages from Pakistan to make Navjot Singh Sidhu a minister, then why did he keep it a secret for so many years? Was it at the behest of Pakistan that Captain was again offering ministry to Sidhu, asked Mann.Addressing the media in Chandigarh on Tuesday, Mann said Captain Amarinder Singh was making such statements to disturb the atmosphere of Punjab during the elections as he had nothing left now. Mann, without naming anyone, remarked that 'Pakistan' himself used to live with him in his house. Captain used to appoint ministers, DGP and Chief Secretary of the state only after asking Pakistan. Captain used the services of senior officers of Punjab to take care of the Sitaphal and Chiku in his Siswan Farm House.
Reacting to Captain Amarinder Singh's comment calling Bhagwant Mann a comedian, Mann said that this comedian has always raised the issues of Punjab's water, Punjab's agriculture, farmers and mafia in the Parliament. Whereas, when Captain was an MP, he did not even go to Parliament. His (Captain’s) attendance was the worst, let alone his chances of raising any issue pertaining Punjab and its people. Even as the Chief Minister, he deceived the people of Punjab. Instead of fulfilling the promises, he was leisurely spending time in his farm house. Today he is getting punished for the betrayal he has done with the people of Punjab. Mann said that during the last Lok Sabha elections, Captain used to call him a strong candidate; today he is calling him a comedian because Captain is agitated about the love and support that Mann is getting from the people of Punjab.Mann strongly condemned the sacrilege incident at the famous Kali Mata temple in Patiala and said that if the culprits in the old sacrilege cases had been punished severely, such incidents would not have happened time and again.
He appealed to the people to maintain peace and wished for harmony in Punjab. He said that the Aam Aadmi Party government will maintain peace and brotherhood in Punjab by improving law and order and will give strict punishments to the guilty after conducting a high-level inquiry into all the previous sacrilege cases. Mann narrated the lines of famous poet Rahat Indori about the relation between tension and elections, saying that such incidents are happening because of elections. First there was an attempt of sacrilege at Sri Harmandir Sahib, then in Ludhiana there was desecration of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita and now an attempt at Kali Mata Mandir. Some anti-social forces are carrying out such incidents to disturb the communal harmony of Punjab.Mann said that Navjot Singh Sidhu gives lousy statements and use abusive language towards Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal, because he has no topics of work or development to talk about. He advised Navjot Sidhu to keep a check on his words. “To earn others’ respect, first you have to show respect. If he has so much desire to become the Chief Minister, then he should get the survey done on behalf of the Congress party, he will know the truth,” added Mann.