Switching into a damage-control mode, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) senior leader and senior Supreme Court lawyer HS Phoolka on Sunday performed ‘sewa’ at the Golden Temple to seek pardon on behalf of his party’s “unintentional” mistake of using Golden Temple’s picture along with the party’s symbol “broom” on the cover of its “youth manifesto” and equating it with Guru Granth Sahib.
Phoolka was seen with some local party volunteers even as the renowned lawyer had given a call to AAP volunteers through social media to join him.
The AAP leader reached Golden Temple’s langar Hall (community kitchen) as early as 3 am and washed utensils as a volunteer till 5 am. Thereafter, he visited the Diwan Hall of Gurdwara Manji Sahib and performed ‘joda sewa’ — cleaning up shoes of common devotees.
later, he performed ‘ardas’ (prayer) at the Akal Takht — Sikhs’ highest temporal seat — and tendered an apology before it. Phoolka’s sewa came a week ahead party national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s scheduled visit to the Sikhs’ holiest shrine on July 18 to seek pardon.
Earlier, party’s Punjab affairs in-charge Sanjay Singh, party’s Punjab Dialogue Committee head Kanwar Sandhu and his team, who prepared the manifesto, were supposed to tender an apology by doing ‘sewa’ at the Golden Temple.
Taking the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal head on, Phoolka said that when Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh Majithia had “deliberately’ distorted the verses of Gurbani at a public rally during the last lok Sabha election, why didn’t he (Badal) submit his resignationIJ”
“I wonder with what face Badal has been asking for Kejriwal’s resignation. Did Badal resign over Majithia’s mistakeIJ Why should Kejriwal submit an apology when he had nothing to do directly with the party’s blunderIJ” he asked.
Admitting that the mistake was “inadvertently” committed by our Delhi team, he said that for same, we have submitted an apology at the Golden Temple, then what is the point in politicising it.