Accusing the Punjab Police of "shielding" armed cadres of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the recent panchayat elections, the Congress on Monday sought the dismissal of deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal from the home minister's post by the governor.
The Congress also sought the intervention of the Punjab and Haryana high court chief justice to restore the rule of law in the state.
"The police purposely allowed Akali goons to carry weapons with impunity, while they pressurised other political parties to deposit their weapons, virtually leaving them defenseless. Therefore, Sukhbir is directly responsible for the violence and deaths during the elections, as it was due to his verbal instructions that the police did not deposit the firearms of Akali workers," Punjab Congress spokesman Sukhpal Khaira said in a statement here.
"Sukhbir also owes moral responsibility both as the SAD president as well as the home minister for his repeated failure to reign in Akali goons indulging in bloodshed and lawlessness," he added.
Dubbing the clashes between Akali factions as "gang wars", Khaira pointed out the death of two supporters of former Akali minister Tota Singh during a clash in Moga district and the killing of a youth in Faridkot district by a drunken cop.
{{/usCountry}}Dubbing the clashes between Akali factions as "gang wars", Khaira pointed out the death of two supporters of former Akali minister Tota Singh during a clash in Moga district and the killing of a youth in Faridkot district by a drunken cop.
{{/usCountry}}"Earlier, during the zila parishad elections, Akalis committed four political murders, including those of Youth Congress leader Sukhraj Singh of Patti and Jaspreet Singh Jassa of the People's Party of Punjab (PPP) in Bathinda," he said, adding that the killers were still absconding.