Condemning the vandalisation of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s statue by SAD workers in Ludhiana, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday asked Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal to stop indulging in petty politics, warning him that such acts would backfire on his party in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
The Chief Minister asked Sukhbir to immediately apologise for the “obnoxious” act of his party workers, who were clearly acting on an agenda to garner votes in the ensuing polls.
“Indulgence in such petty and condemnable actions will not absolve you or your family of the many sins of omission and commission against the Guru Granth Sahib and the Sikh community,” the Chief Minister told Sukhbir.
Retorting, Sukhbir said: “It would have been better if you as a true Sikh and Punjab Chief Minister had condemned the Gandhi family and demanded expulsion of Sajjan Kumar and Kamal Nath from Congress party. But you are too busy in sycophancy of Gandhi family to save your chair.”
“You should apologise to the Sikh sangat for failing them as Chief Minister and standing with hated Gandhi family. The community has shown what it thinks of Rajiv Gandhi in Ludhiana. Don't disrespect the sentiments of Sikhs,” said Sukhbir said in a series of tweets from his official Twitter handle.
Meanwhile, Capt Amarinder has directed the district police to immediately identify the culprits responsible for the violence and take stringent action against them, as per law.
Lashing out at the Akalis, Capt Amarinder said that in their desperation to win public support, which the party had completely lost due to its criminal acts of commission and omission in the 10 years of SAD-BJP rule, the Badals and their supporters were stooping to abominable levels.
“Had the Gandhis been involved in any way, they would have been named by at least some of the victims in the wake of the riots,” he observed, adding that while he had personally visited the refugee camps to meet the victims, Sukhbir had packed his bags and left for the US and was thus totally unaware of the developments at that time.