The SAD on Sunday dubbed the attack on the delegation led by Cabinet Minister Tota Singh in New York as an act of “frustration” by some “vested interests”.
The opposition Congress, however, latched onto the incident to hit out at the State Government saying that it was a “manifestation of the anger that NRI Punjabis, particularly the Sikhs, have against Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Government” for their “hollow promises” and “failure” on all fronts.
“Such incidents are mere frustration on the part of some vested interests who do not want the Akalis to paint a true picture of Punjab abroad,” said SAD MP and party secretary general Prem Singh Chandumajra.
He said that the incident is “unfortunate” as Akali leadership was making efforts to ensure that NRIs come and invest in the state. “There are rumours among NRIs that Punjab is in bad shape and it is the duty of Akali Dal to clear the misconception,” he said.
“The only objective of SAD is convincing the NRIs to contribute in the overall development of the country,” he said, adding that such an incident “will not stop Akalis from moving ahead” to make NRIs aware of “true picture of Punjab that has been maligned by few vested interests”.
Reacting to the incident, main opposition Congress said that there was growing anger among NRIs of Punjabi origin against the Akali-BJP Government. “This is manifestation of the anger that NRI Punjabis, particularly the Sikhs have against Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his government,” said Punjab Congress president Pratap Singh Bajwa.
He said: “The NRIs have shown mirror to the SAD-BJP Government that they cannot take the non-resident community for granted by making hollow promises to them every time.”
Ruling SAD and opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are trying to woo Punjabi diaspora as they feel that the community can play a significant role in 2017 Assembly polls in Punjab. Delegations of Akalis led by ministers are touring various countries where sizeable number of Punjabis are settled.
Soon, former Chief Minister and Congress’ Amritsar MP Capt Amarinder Singh too is expected to visit a few countries, including the UK, the US and Canada.