E-Paper
Sukhbir asks five AAP ministers fighting polls to quit Punjab cabinet
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday asked the five candidates fielded by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Lok Sabha polls to quit the cabinet for smooth functioning of their ministries
BATHINDA : Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday asked the five candidates fielded by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Lok Sabha polls to quit the cabinet for smooth functioning of their ministries.
The AAP has fielded five cabinet ministers – Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal from Amritsar, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer from Sangrur, Gurmeet Singh Khudian from Bathinda, Laljit Singh Bhullar from Khadoor Sahib, and Dr Balbir Singh from Patiala – for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Polling for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held on June 1.
In Bathinda as a part of the SAD’s ongoing “Punjab Bachao Yatra”, Sukhbir said the state cannot afford “paralysis” in governance due to the absence of these ministers from their offices for the next two-and-a-half months.
In a scathing attack on Khudian, AAP nominee from Bathinda Lok Sabha seat, Sukhbir said as the state agriculture minister, he failed to give compensation to farmers for crop damage.
“The AAP has lost political ground in Punjab and people are up in arms against the ruling dispensation. In the forthcoming elections, the AAP would face electoral rejection by the Punjabis,” he added.
The yatra also covered Bhucho Mandi and Bathinda Urban assembly segments that are parts of the Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency.
Sitting MP from Bathinda and Sukhbir’s wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal remained absent in the yatra.
Addressing the gatherings, the SAD chief credited the holistic development of Bathinda to Harsimrat, who has been representing the constituency since 2009.
“Key projects like an All-India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) and Central University of Punjab have changed the shape of an underdeveloped area of Bathinda. The SAD was instrumental in setting up an oil refinery in the area. A regional party like the SAD understands the aspirations of the state and people should vote to keep Punjab free from the parties controlled by the Delhi-centric leadership,” he added.
