Badal accuses AAP of deceit, misgovernance

Our correspondent

Tarn Taran, November 2

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal launched a sharp attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leadership, accusing them of betraying the people of Punjab through “lies, deceit and administrative failure”.

Addressing a series of public meetings in support of SAD candidate Principal Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa, Badal termed AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s statement in Gujarat — that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had provided Rs 50,000 per acre compensation to flood-affected farmers across Punjab — as “a brazen falsehood.”

He said, “Kejriwal’s claim exposes the very foundation of AAP’s politics, which thrives on misleading narratives and manufactured achievements. Not a single affected farmer has received compensation so far.”

He also accused the AAP-led state government of diverting Rs 12,000 crore released by the Centre under the State Disaster Management Fund, claiming that no relief had been extended for crop loss, damaged homes or livestock deaths. He also said the state government had failed to provide certified wheat seeds to farmers cultivating 5 lakh acres of flood-affected land, as earlier promised by the Chief Minister.

Condemning the Centre’s notification altering the composition of Panjab University’s Syndicate and Senate, Badal said it was “a direct assault on Punjab’s constitutional rights and federal character.” He criticised the AAP government for its “conspicuous silence” on the issue.

The SAD chief further alleged that the AAP government was suppressing press freedom by seizing newspapers in Tarn Taran to block reports about the “Sheesh Mahal” reportedly provided to Kejriwal. “We will not allow anyone to muzzle the media or silence the truth,” he asserted.

He also claimed shopkeepers were receiving extortion threats and that AAP leaders had formed “a nexus with gangsters and drug traffickers.”