The Punjab Congress on Wednesday lashed out at the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for "shifting its total base from Chandigarh to Delhi" for the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DGMC) elections, "virtually rendering the government dysfunctional". "The government should have declared official holiday in the civil secretariat as that would have saved the people from harassment," Punjab Congress general secretary and Dhuri MLA Arvind Khanna said in a statement issued here.

Khanna pointed out that not only were ministers unavailable as they were busy campaigning in Delhi, but most senior officers from the police and bureaucracy had also moved to the national capital. "The entire durbar has moved to Delhi along with all the durbaris," he remarked, "Those left behind are not bothered about visiting offices."

He said he did not expect things to improve for another month, as after the January 27 DSGMC polls, the Akali ministers and the bureaucracy would get busy in the Moga bypoll slated for February 23.