Never disrespected Dalits, says Bajwa on Cheema’s allegations

Bajwa blamed AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal for the allegations levelled by finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema against him

Leader of Opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa on Wednesday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab of distorting his Jalandhar speech and levelling false allegations against him.

Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa (File photo)

Bajwa blamed AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal for the allegations levelled by finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema against him. Cheema had, on Monday, alleged that Bajwa’s controversial remarks against AAP MLA Labh Singh Ugoke insulted the Scheduled Caste (SC) community.

The Congress leader said he never uttered a word against the Dalits, SC, BC or OBC community. “Rather, I acknowledge that these communities have been supporting the Congress unconditionally for a long time,” he added.

Bajwa asked Cheema if he had questioned Kejriwal about when he would fulfil his pre-poll promise of giving a Dalit deputy CM to Punjab. On the finance minister’s demand for apology, Bajwa said, “Why should I tender an apology for the comments that I haven’t made?”

He said, “Kejriwal has been pursuing Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for seeking support on the ordinance brought by the BJP. I along with my party colleagues strongly opposed it,” he said.