Chandigarh:Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal today said it was condemnable that at a time when the law and order position in Punjab was its worst and communal harmony was in disarray, chief minister Bhagwant Mann had sublet the police force to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convener Arvind Kejriwal to help the latter in settling his petty personal scores.
Asking chief minister Bhagwant Mann not to become a puppet in the hands of Kejriwal, the SAD president said “the chief minister should take review meetings of the law and order situation as well as ensure those responsible for flaring communal tensions in the recent Patiala clash are brought to task instead of keeping himself busy by deputing Punjab Police teams to Delhi to arrest opponents of AAP”.
Telling the chief minister to eschew the politics of vendetta, Sukhbir Badal said “Punjabis did not elect AAP for this task. Punjabis want to witness the meaningful change promised in the State. It is condemnable that instead of fulfilling the promises made to the people, the AAP government is registering cases against its political opponents like Tejinder Bagga who was arrested and later freed from the clutches of the Punjab Police by the Haryana Police today”.
Asserting that all this was unwarranted, Badal asked the Punjab Police chief to refrain from obeying the illegal commands of the AAP government. “Punjab Police is known as a professional police force but the manner in which it is being misused by the AAP government has made a mockery of it. The State DGP should show requisite courage and not become a party to vendetta politics”.
Badal said the recent events had also removed all doubt that Arvind Kejriwal was treating Punjab as a colony to extend his political empire. “The chief minister of Punjab has virtually become a ‘subedar’ of the Delhi Durbar. All postings and transfers of officers are done from Delhi. The Punjab government has virtually become a subsidiary of the Delhi government. The recent agreement between the two governments has paved the way for complete administrative control of Punjab by Delhi. It is shocking that after selling off the interests of Punjab to Delhi, chief minister Bhagwant Mann is now taking illegal dictates to register cases and arrest opponents of AAP”.