SAD flays Cong govt for charging pilgrims Rs20 application fee

The SAD leader said the fee displayed the lack of ‘aastha’ in the Congress government’s celebration of the grand religious occasion

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday condemned the Congress government for charging Rs20 as th application filing fee from pilgrims to facilitate their visit to Kartarpur Sahib on the Guru Nanak’s 550th parkash purb.

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In a statement, SAD leader and former lok sabha MP Prem Singh Chandumajra said chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh should not adopt double standards by protesting the $20 fee imposed by Pakistan, while having his government charge Rs20 from pilgrims for their application forms. “It is better you first practice what you preach,” Chandumajra told the CM.

The SAD leader said the fee displayed the lack of ‘aastha’ in the Congress government’s celebration of the grand religious occasion. “Helping citizens is the constitutional duty of every state government, but the Congress does not wish to do it even on the eve of parkash purb celebrations,” Chandumajra said, referring to the government’s argument for charging Rs20 only from those who could not fill the online form.