Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today admonished Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring for indulging in cheap theatrics on the sensitive issue of sacrilege of holy Granths, even as he asked Warring why his government had never caught the sacrilege perpetrators during it’s five years in power from 2017 to 2022.
Addressing a mammoth rally here as part of the party’s Punjab Bachao campaign along with party’s halka incharge Baljit Singh Jalalusma, the SAD president asked Warring to tell why he never raised his voice against the biggest sacrilege committed against the Sikh kaum by his “mother” Indira Gandhi by attacking Sri Darbar Sahib with tanks and mortars.
Asserting that Warring should tell whether he went to any place where 597 sacrileges took place in the last 10 years, Mr Sukhbir Badal said the Congress party has only done politics on the sensitive issue of sacrileges. He said the party continued to do politics after stopping the SAD from probing the case of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Maharaj in Bargari. “It has no right to talk about sacrileges”.
Mr Badal also spoke on how sacrilege incidents started in Punjab in 2015 after AAP entered the State in 2014. He said AAP MLA Naresh Yadav was also convicted in the sacrilege incident case of 2016 in Malerkotla despite desperate attempts to save him by forcing the deputy commissioner to withdraw the case and even fielding senior AAP leaders - Harpal Cheema and Harjot Bains to defend Yadav.
The SAD president also took on chief minister Bhagwant Mann for trying to discourage youth from establishing their own Animal Husbandry ventures solely because they were envisioned by the SAD. “It seems the chief minister is rattled by both the vision of the SAD in proposing a 75 per cent subsidy for livestock ventures as well as the huge response to the Punjab Bachao rallies of the party.
This is why he is making mindless comments that the SAD will make the youth pick up dung. Mann should realise such schemes are needed to give an opportunity to the youth to become part of the State’s progress and prosperity. But I guess this is too much to expect from a person who comes under the influence in the day time only”, he added.
Spelling out his vision for Punjab, Mr Badal announced that the next SAD government would give an MSP for milk to secure dairy farmers. He said the party was also committed to establishing a World Skill university with centres in each district to skill youth as per the requirements of corporates.
He also announced that concrete would be laid on all streets and drains in a phased manner in the State with 2,500 villages being taken up for this drive every year. He said joint land holdings would be demarcated to individual land holdings free of cost and that registries would be done to give ownership rights to all those having property in the ‘Lal Dora’ of villages.
Senior leader Bikram Singh Majithia while speaking on the occasion said the chief minister should take responsibility for the forced suicide of Warehousing Officer Dr Gagandeep Singh Randhawa as well as the false encounter of 19 year old youth Ranjit Singh.
He said Bhagwant Mann was also responsible for the corruption in the Milkfed as he held the Cooperation portfolio and under his watch the Indian army rejected samples of Verka whole milk powder. Senior leaders who were preset on the stage included Veer Singh Lopoke and Rajwinder Singh Raja Ladeh.