Chandigarh, Aug 12 (IANS) Punjab Finance Minister, Harpal Singh Cheema, on Wednesday slammed the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP, saying the former “is behaving like a spokesperson” of the latter.
“The ‘Chitta Party’ (SAD) has completely abandoned its principles and is now acting as a spokesperson for the ‘ED Party’ (BJP) and central investigative agencies. It is baffling how a communication addressed to the DGP by the Enforcement Directorate is being weaponised by the Akali Dal to defame the Aam Aadmi Party,” Cheema told the media here.
“This clearly exposes that SAD is functioning as an extended wing and spokesperson of the BJP, desperately trying to find a political lease of life,” he said.
Reminding the public of the era between 2007 and 2017, he held the erstwhile SAD-BJP government directly responsible for ruining Punjab’s social fabric, economy, and youth.
“The people of Punjab have not forgotten the rampant drug menace, the desecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib-ji, and the widespread corruption that earned the state the tragic label of ‘Udta Punjab’,” he said.
He said during the 10 years of SAD-BJP rule, Punjab was devastated on all fronts. Parents were forced to sell their lands, homes, and life savings just to send their children abroad out of fear that the drug mafia nurtured by the government would destroy their future, the Cabinet minister alleged.
Targeting the BJP-led Union Government, the AAP leader accused the ruling dispensation at the Centre of systematically undermining the Constitution drafted by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
“Central agencies like the ED, the CBI, and the Income Tax Department are regularly deployed to intimidate Opposition leaders, threaten local administration, and subvert elected state governments across the country, like in West Bengal, Bihar, and targeting the AAP leadership,” he said.
Cheema said the BJP has no faith in democratic values or the Constitution. “Whenever elections approach or an Opposition government stands firm, the machinery of central agencies is unleashed to threaten political opponents and break governments,” he claimed.
–IANS
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