Training its guns at the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday met Punjab Governor BL Purohit urging him to annul the “unconstitutional” agreement between Delhi and Punjab Governments, CBI inquiry into Patiala clashes, besides directing the AAP Government to stop “wasteful expenditure” on advertisements and examine scam in kickbacks.
SAD delegation, led by its president Sukhbir Singh Badal, urged the Governor to direct AAP led State Government to annul the “unconstitutional” agreement arrived at with the Delhi Government allegedly handing over all its powers to the latter.
The delegation asked the Governor to seek legal counsel and take appropriate action against the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Council of Ministers “for violating the oath of secrecy” by signing away control of the State to the Delhi Government. It also apprised the Governor that the agreement signed between the Punjab and Delhi Governments was “against the spirit of federalism”.
Asserting that it was for the first time in the history of the country that an elected State had ceded its administration to another State, SAD delegation urged the Governor to direct the Punjab Government not to allow the Delhi Government to interfere in its internal affairs. No official file should be sent to Delhi for perusal, it said adding that Punjabis would never tolerate such subjugation by the Delhi government.
Apprising the Governor about the recent clash in Patiala, SAD chief explained how the Chief Minister refused to take any action to avert it despite having been given advance notice of the same four days in advance.
Asserting that there seemed to be a “deep-rooted conspiracy” to divert attention from AAP government’s failures through such actions, Sukhbir said that it was even more disconcerting that instead of taking action against the main conspirators, AAP Government tried to turn it into a fight between two political parties.
The delegation noted that Punjab had not witnessed any communal clash even during the worst period of terrorism and it was condemnable that such a clash had occurred in Patiala. They said that intelligence reports were ignored and no action was even taken on complaints by Sikh organizations that a deliberate attempt was being made to stoke communal passions.
“Even now, no effort is being taken to book miscreants, and innocents are being harassed. Only a CBI inquiry or a probe by a sitting judge of the High Court could unmask the conspiracy and ensure justice in the case,” it demanded.
The delegation also urged the Governor to direct the AAP Government to put an end to wasteful expenditure in the form of advertisements worth crores proclaiming achievements which had not even occurred in far off States even as Punjab was under a crippling debt of Rs three lakh crore.
It pointed out that crores were being spent every day on needless advertisements, and the AAP government had asked people of various States to give their suggestions on the contents of the Punjab budget. SAD urged the Governor to order examination of the scam in the form of kickbacks given to place advertisements which ran into crores.