Bureau
Jalandhar– Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema today the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were trying to polarize votes by creating a fear psychosis in the State, even as he appealed to Punjabis to maintain peace and communal harmony.
Addressing well attended gatherings in favour of SAD-BSP joint candidate Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi in Shahkot constituency, the SAD leader asked what the AAP-BJP combine had gained by deputing para-military forces in Punjab. “An additional burden has been put on the State besides creating emergency like conditions to paint a wrong picture of Punjab to the nation”. He also decried the use of selective media to defame Punjab and Punjabis even as bans were imposed on media outlets who did not toe the line of the AAP government and did not become a part of the propaganda. “All this points to attempts to defame Punjabis to secure electoral gains nationally”.
Asserting when one conspiracy to create unrest in Punjab failed, forces who had tried to destabilize the State earlier, had engineered a heinous sacrilege incident at Morinda. Condemning the incident and demanding an impartial probe into it, Dr Cheema said “Punjabis will see through this conspiracy and will not allow anyone to spoil communal relations in the State”. He also condemned the draconian civil crackdown launched in the State recently during the course of which devotees were prevented from paying their obeisance at Sri Damdama Sahib and Sri Anandpur Sahib.
Asserting that Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi was the best candidate for the Jalandhar parliamentary bypoll, Dr Cheema said “both AAP and the BJP are fielding turncoats”. He said it was a matter of shame for AAP that it could not find a suitable candidate even after winning 92 seats in the last assembly election. Dr Cheema said the SAD-BSP candidate had a stellar record as a doctor and social activist besides being a model legislator who had raised the issues of his constituency as well as Punjabis splendidly in the Vidhan Sabha.
Dr Cheema also highlighted how chief minister Bhagwant Mann had consistently sold off the interests of Punjab be it not speaking up when the jurisdiction of the BSF was increased to 50 kilometers from the international border to selling off Punjab’s rights over Chandigarh and even failing to counter AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal when the latter guaranteed that SYL water would be released to Haryana.
Among others present on the occasion included Surjit Singh Garhi , Vardev Singh Mann, Joginder Jindu, Bachitar Singh Kohar, Hansraj Josan and Mohinder Rinwa.