The Congress in Punjab on Friday questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the “hurry” in tendering an unconditional apology to ex-Minister Bikram Singh Majithia for levelling charges of involvement in the drug trade.
The ruling party said Kejriwal, who is the Aam Aadmi Party convener, owed an apology to the people of Punjab for “not only misleading them but also cheating them”.
“Instead of tendering an apology to Majithia, you should have apologised to the people of Punjab for consistently and continuously lying to them,” state Congress president and Gurdaspur MP Sunil Jakhar said in a statement.
He claimed that Kejriwal's apology only established the fact that the Aam Aadmi Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal had a secret understanding to divide the anti-incumbency votes against the Akalis.
“Their political posturing of criticising each other was only aimed at hoodwinking the people and dividing the anti-incumbency vote to benefit the Akalis,” he added.
The cat is out of the bag with Kejriwal’s meek surrender to Majithia”, he remarked, while adding that Kejriwal and his party will have to answer to the people of Punjab and they will never forgive them.
The PCC president took a dig at the Punjab AAP leaders who have been feigning ignorance and claiming that they were not consulted about it.
“Their public posturing notwithstanding, most of the Punjab AAP leaders are very much part of the process and understanding with the Akalis”, he asserted while pointing out how the two parties aligned together in the previous session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha against the Congress.
Reiterating his government’s commitment to eradicate the scourge of drugs from state, the PCC president said, investigations were going on and the truth will prevail and all the culprits will be brought to the book.
Majithia is the brother-in-law of Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal.
“The Delhi Chief Minister should have waited for the completion of inquiries going on into the matter before running with his apology,” a separate statement quoting state Congress vice president Sukhjinder Randhawa said.
He said Kejriwal's apology “didn't exonerate Majithia” of the crime of patronising and promoting the drug trade in the border state.