Holding a rally in the native village of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal, chief minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday accused the Akali leadership of misgovernance and promoting family interests at the cost of Punjab during its regime.
CM Mann, who took out a roadshow in support of Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Bathinda candidate Gurmeet Khudian, said while the rural areas were deprived of basic amenities, the Badals planted exotic trees in Badal village at the cost of public money. “These fancy trees were bought from Dubai for a business conclave. There was no investment push after the event but the exotic trees were brought to the village of the Badal family,” he said.
On the occasion, Mann sang a satire ‘kikli’ while targeting the Badals politically.
Earlier in the day, the chief minister addressed a gathering of the scheduled caste community in Naruana village. “It is unfortunate that a few Dalit leaders indulged in the misappropriation of funds for SC students during the previous political regimes. But our government has zero tolerance for corruption. Free 600 units of electricity and several other initiatives are meant to give relief to people,” he added.
Rubbishing the charges levelled by the Congress that government jobs were being given to non-Punjabis, he said, “I have official data to prove that only Punjabis or youth from Haryana or Rajasthan with roots in Punjab got the jobs after passing the Punjabi language test. Unfortunately, a few politicians are objecting to migrants coming to our state for work. The Constitution allows any person to earn livelihood anywhere in the country and discriminating against any person on the grounds of his background is against basic tenets of Punjabi and Sikh traditions,” said the CM.
{{/usCountry}}Rubbishing the charges levelled by the Congress that government jobs were being given to non-Punjabis, he said, “I have official data to prove that only Punjabis or youth from Haryana or Rajasthan with roots in Punjab got the jobs after passing the Punjabi language test. Unfortunately, a few politicians are objecting to migrants coming to our state for work. The Constitution allows any person to earn livelihood anywhere in the country and discriminating against any person on the grounds of his background is against basic tenets of Punjabi and Sikh traditions,” said the CM.
{{/usCountry}}AAP’s campaign committee member Amit Rattan Kotfatta, who was arrested by the state vigilance bureau for bribery last year and later got bail, was among the organisers of the Naruana rally. He addressed the rally on his home turf before Mann’s arrival. He was seen interacting with the CM’s security team and later he was not spotted near the stage.
Meanwhile, former SAD legislator from Bathinda (rural) Darshan Singh Kotfatta was welcomed into the AAP fold by the CM. Kotfatta was elected MLA in 2012. In 2022, he had unsuccessfully contested on a SAD ticket from Bhucho Mandi segment.