Patiala-Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal today demanded a judicial probe into the Punjab liquor scam as well as misuse of State resources to fund Aam Aadmi Party’s election campaign in various States following the rejection of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s petition challenging his arrest on charges of corruption.
The SAD president, who toured Nabha and Patiala Rural constituencies as part of the party’s Punjab Bachao Yatra along with senior leader N K Sharma and Surjit Singh Rakhra, said “it is now abundantly clear that Arvind Kejriwal resorted to gross acts of corruption. The Delhi high court, while rejecting his plea challenging his arrest has put it on record that material produced before the court suggested that Kejriwal had demanded kickbacks of Rs 100 crore, some of which were used to fund the campaign expenses for the 2022 Goa election”. He said evidence in the form of statements of approvers as well as an AAP Goa legislator’s statement that he had been paid with the kickbacks had also been put on record”.
Mr Badal, who received a tremendous response in both Nabha and Patiala Rural constituencies in which Makhan Singh Lalka and Jaspal Singh Chatha (constituency incharges), YAD president Sarabjit Singh Jhinjar and party Spokesperson Arsh Kler were present, expressed surprise as to why no action had been taken in the Punjab liquor scam, which was perpetrated in the same manner as the Delhi scam with the same persons drafting the Punjab excise policy and even granting concessions to the same players, Mr Sukhbir Badal said “it seems chief minister Bhagwant Mann has prostrated himself before Delhi to save his chair as there cannot be any other explanation for inaction in this case”. Mr Badal said in return the chief minister had refused to take action against Haryana police officials who had killed one youth and severely injured another during the ongoing farmer agitation. “This is reason enough to reject all Delhi based parties as well as those who do secret deals with the centre against the interest of Punjabis”, he added.
Mr Badal also chided the AAP government for acting in frustration by alleging that a child had been forced to raise pro-SAD slogans. He said the fact of the matter was that every section of society, be it children, their parents or the elderly, were disillusioned with the AAP government. “What the child said was the voice of his heart and the voice of Punjabis as they are fed up of AAP rule and want to show the door to the corrupt and anti-Punjab party”.