DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Badal on Monday alleged that central agencies started a campaign against his party immediately after it quit the BJP-led NDA government and even planted their own men to accuse the party of committing sacrilege.

Addressing a gathering at Sardulgarh town in favour of his wife and party candidate from the Bathinda parliamentary seat, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, he said those who had attacked the SAD virulently for the acts of sacrilege eight years back, including self-styled panthic leader Baljit Singh Daduwal, had now joined the BJP.

"This proves there was a sinister agenda to defame the SAD and weaken it," he said

Noting that the SAD was known for selfless service, he said: "Leaders like Parkash Singh Badal have been jailed for as long as 16 years in far-off places like Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore and Panchmari. Badal Sahab even did not avail bail to attend his daughter's wedding."

He said the situation had changed now and people now wanted that they should be taken out of jail after one year alone.

Sukhbir Badal also took on the BJP for taking over Sikh religious bodies. He said the BJP government in Maharashtra had tinkered with the Sri Hazoor Sahib Gurdwara managing board and nominated 12 members to the board to take it into its control.

He said members of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee had been co-opted into the BJP even as the SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) had been broken to create a separate gurdwara committee for Haryana. He said Sikh bodies under the control of the BJP like the Delhi Committee led by Manjinder Singh Sirsa were now even denying 'langar' to those who were holding 'dharnas' against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The SAD President also asserted that the Central government had virtually taken over the AAP government in Punjab, alleging that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was already functioning as a "B team of the BJP" and was ready to become the BJP's Chief Minister in Punjab in case the party formed the government at the Centre.

In an emotional pitch to the electorate, the SAD President also asked the audience not to vote for the Congress.
(editor@dailyworld.in)