Alleging that the Akalis and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAp) had played a “fix” match, the Punjab Congress on Saturday said they had done this in the run up to the Assembly polls and doing the same thing in the Assembly.
The charge of the Punjab Congress comes in the backdrop of members of the Opposition SAD-BJP and the AAP walking out of the Punjab Assembly to protest the “denigration of Sikh principles” the day before when some MlAs were forcibly evicted from the House.
“Both the parties had reduced the Assembly to a battleground due to their inter and intra-party power tussle,” Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar said.
Addressing a Press conference, he lashed out at the opposition for “making a mockery” of the Assembly and demanded an unconditional apology from them for “undermining the sanctity” of the House and the Speaker.
Jakhar asked since the nexus between the SAD and the AAP has been exposed, will Sukhbir Singh Badal withdraw the defamation case against Arvind Kejriwal, who had accused ex-Minister Bikram Singh Majithia of drug smuggling.
He asked will the former Chief Minister apologise for making derogatory statement against the Speaker and will he come to the Vidhan Sabha to take charge of the Opposition.
Asked why the Congress Government had did not arrest Majithia, Jakhar said the Government could not act merely by perception, adding it has to follow the due process of law.
The Congress Government is systematically initiating enquiries and action against mafias who had mushroomed during the Akali rule, he said, adding the Government will not be vindictive but no mafia would be spared.
Asserting that the language used by Sukhbir Singh Badal against the Speaker as “most unfortunate,” Jakhar said the former Deputy CM had exploited the inexperience of AAP MlAs to his advantage and was crying over something that was of his own making.
Jakhar also accused Majithia of trying to communalise the turban issue and urged the Akalis not to indulge in such acts.
On Thursday, when the speaker had ordered that AAP MlAs be taken out of the Assembly by marshals, turbans of some of the members had come off in the melee.
The entire incident was unfortunate, but the fact was that during the Akali rule, Congress MlAs were stopped by the speaker from entering the Assembly premises, Jakhar alleged.
“Nobody wanted forcible eviction and, in fact, the Speaker showed remarkable restraint…. the step was taken only after all his pleas fell on deaf ears,” he said.
The State Congress chief alleged, “The entire drama was enacted during the Budget Session to prevent the Government from making important announcements.”
Jakhar said the manner in which the CM has fulfilled the farm loan waiver promise, despite the State finances being in in a pitiful State, was commendable and should be appreciated even by the Badals.