AAP has betrayed its ‘idols’ Bhagat Singh, Ambedkar; can’t be trusted, says Sukhi
Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi, the joint candidate of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) combine for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, on Monday said that AAP has betrayed both its purported ‘idols’ – Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar – in just one year in office and it cannot be trusted any longer.
Condemning the sacrilege incident that happened in a gurdwara in Punjab’s Morinda on Monday, Sukhi alleged that it was a conspiracy and asserted that it was a brazen attempt to deflect attention from the ‘utter failures’ of the AAP government on all fronts. He demanded a judicial probe into the incident to unmask the conspiracy behind the sacrilege incident.
A video has surfaced on social media in which a Sikh man is seen entering the sanctum sanctorum of Gurdwara Kotwali Sahib in Morinda, hitting two priests and desecrating the Guru Granth Sahib.
Addressing election meetings in Kartarpur constituency, Sukhi said the AAP government had insulted Shaheed Bhagat Singh by replacing the photographs of the martyr and his family members from the primary health centre in his native village Khatkar Kalan with those of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
“It’s only after we protested against this injustice to the martyr, the original photographs were brought back and replaced,” Sukhi said, adding that “the primary health centre has become practically defunct with emergency services provided by it coming to a halt after the transfer of the lone doctor manning it”.
Asserting that the AAP government was working against the ideals of Ambedkar, the SAD-BSP candidate said, “The government refused to extend any reservations to Scheduled Castes while hiring law officers recently. When this was challenged in the high court, the government submitted an affidavit stating that members from the SC community did not have the ability to work on the post.” He alleged that members of the Dalit community were denied SC scholarship as well.
Taking on AAP candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku, the SAD-BSP candidate said, “One month ago when he was part of the Congress, Rinku while addressing a meeting had asked women to first ask the AAP government to release the arrears (Rs 1,000 per month promised by AAP) due to them before seeking their votes. Now, I ask the AAP candidate to get his government release Rs 12,000 each due to all women in the state before asking for their votes.”
AAP had promised that if it is voted to power in Punjab, it will transfer Rs 1,000 per month to the account of every woman aged 18 or above.
