हिंदी
— Bikram S Majithia also condemned the manner in which Punjab Police was being misused by the CM to keep ordinary Punjabis out of tomorrow’s debate
Chandigarh, October 31 –
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said chief minister Bhagwant Mann was set to insult Punjab and Punjabis on Punjab Day tomorrow by creating divisions in the State polity and derailing the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue deliberately on the directions of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convener Arvind Kejriwal.
Addressing a press conference here, senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia said the chief minister first failed to call an all party meeting to bring all parties together in order to save the loot of Punjab’s River waters.“Now the SYL issue has been further relegated to the sidelines with the chief minister announcing that nineteen issues would be taken up for discussion in the so called debate being organized by the government in Ludhiana within a time span of thirty minutes for each speaker. This means the AAP government is not serious about getting all political parties on one platform on the most sensitive issue of the SYL canal”.
Mr Bikram Majithia also condemned the manner in which the Punjab Police was being misused to keep Punjabis out of the debate. He said the entire Ludhiana city had been turned into a cantonment with even the ongoing Sarus fair being held in the city being closed abruptly.
“The movement of all heads of unions as well as those of Kisan organizations has been restricted to prevent them from reaching the debate venue which is reminding people of the days of Emergency. The extent of the clamp down can be gauged from the fact that the Special DGP Law and Order held a meeting to review the security situation for tomorrow’s debate which was attended by the ADGP Traffic, ADGP Intelligence, IG Ropar, Commissioner of Police Ludhiana, DIG Ludhiana Range and DIG PAP besides a host of other Superintendents of Police” He said the Punjab Police was referring to the debate as a VVIP event, indicating that only Khas Aadmi would participate in it and ordinary Punjabis would be kept out of its ambit.
Mr Majithia also condemned the manner in which passes had been distributed for the debate. He said each AAP legislator had been given thirty passes each for further distribution. “It is unfortunate that the entire debate has been reduced to a public relations exercise of the AAP government which is aimed at diverting attention from the SYL canal issue and launching a slander campaign against the opposition”. He also reiterated his offer to the chief minister to debate all issues pertaining to Punjab on a common platform.
