Accusing the ruling Akali Dal of partisan politics, Congress Deputy leader in the lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday questioned the ‘selective invitation’ to leaders for participating in the function to mark the 350th anniversary of the foundation of Anandpur Sahib. He said the entire expenditure incurred on holding the function should be borne by the Akali Dal since the Badals had turned it into a party function instead of the State function by restricting the invites to select few who included their own party leaders or the allies.
“By not inviting former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to the function, the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has committed a great blunder. Not that Dr Singh is a Sikh, his contribution to Punjab has been immense,” he said. Capt Amarinder pointed, “His being the Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world helped in recognition of Sikh identity world over when Sikhs were being targeted in hate crimes in mistaken identity.”
“Why only Akalis, what about those Sikhs who have made their mark in the world and done the community proud…Didn’t they deserve to be invited, didn’t they deserve to participate in the function or just because they were not Akalis and hence were left outIJ” he said.