lashing at former Minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur, who left Akali Dal and joined Congress after being denied party ticket, SAD general secretary Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa on Saturday that his deserting the party in less than 24 hours of denial of party ticket makes it clear that he was in the party to milch it and not to serve it.
Dhindsa said that the party had not only fielded him but also ensured his victory six times for Punjab Vidhan Sabha ignoring the claims of all others. “But once the party decided not to field him, he preferred to join Congress against whose policies he had been fighting all through his political career,” Dhindsa said in a statement.
The SAD leader said that the haste on part of Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh to induct him in the party even without consulting his own colleague was equally stunning. “This alarming hurry clearly reflects on the acute desperation in the Congress camp on realising that the party was fast losing its ground and would latch up anything and everything which is of some solace or support,” added Dhindsa.
Dhindsa said that Phillaurs assertions that the “Dalits” were discriminated and he was feeling suffocated in the SAD was absurd and preposterous as this great realisation dawned on him the moment he was refused party nomination for ensuing Assembly polls. If everything was well within the party for four decades when the party nourished him and elevated him to his present statusIJ asked Dhindsa.
The Akali leader said that Phillaur has opted for Congress that had treated Dalits as mere vote bank and did precious to alleviate their acute poverty. If these communities are still poor and deprived, it is precisely because of the accumulated effect of the Congress policies for the last 60 years.