Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday lashed out at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for bartering away the constitutional principles to promote their political interest with its latest U-turn over supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Delhi polls.
Reacting to SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s statement that the party had thrown its weight behind the BJP in Delhi, Amarinder said these flip-flops had nailed the Akali lies on their stand on the “unconstitutional and divisive” Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The CM asked Sukhbir whether the BJP had agreed to amend the CAA in line with SAD’s earlier stand, or the Akalis had once again surrendered themselves to the BJP at the cost of the nation’s interest. “You owe an explanation to the people,” he told Sukhbir.
The Akalis’ decision to backtrack on its earlier stand to extend its support to the BJP in Delhi just a week before the scheduled polls indicated that they had used the CAA as a bargaining chip to secure some political gains, said the CM.
This development, he said, clearly exposed the Akalis’ selfish intentions and the Badal family’s desperation to hold on to power as part of the ruling alliance at the Centre.
{{/usCountry}}This development, he said, clearly exposed the Akalis’ selfish intentions and the Badal family’s desperation to hold on to power as part of the ruling alliance at the Centre.
{{/usCountry}}He said the Akalis’ U-turn had also further accentuated the divide within the Akalis, which appeared to be on the verge of another split and no longer capable of giving a political fight on its own. “Obviously, they need the BJP to hand-hold them on the political ladder, especially in view of the fact that elections in Punjab are just two years away and they have no political leg to stand on,” he said.