Majithia’s security withdrawn; Akalis, Cong criticise move

A day after Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who is facing drug smuggling charges, threatened Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for retaliatory action when Akalis come to power, the state government has withdrawn the Z+ security given to the Akali leader.

Majithia, in response to the government action, said he was not bothered about the withdrawal of the security and would continue to raise public issues, “You can only silence me by killing me,” he wrote on X.

Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which had flayed Majithia for his earlier statement in which he had criticised the removal of Akal Takht Jatehdar Giani Raghbir Singh, today rallied behind him.

The party’s ex-president Sukhbir Singh Badal said the government action confirmed beyond doubt “the dangerous and deadly designs” of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government against the Akali Dal leadership.

He said, “This decision has to be seen alongside the massive witch-hunt launched by the AAP government against Majithia. They are trying to falsely implicate him in drug cases even after their supremo Arvind Kejriwal has apologised in writing to the Akali leader for his false allegations on the drug issue.”

Majithia had yesterday questioned the repeated change of guard of the special investigation team (SIT) formed by the state government to probe drug charges against him.

SAD spokesperson Dr Daljit Singh Cheema also condemned the withdrawal of Majithia’s security cover by the state government in “a revengeful exercise”. He said this action had laid bare the government’s “conspiracy” to create conditions for the physical elimination of the top SAD leadership.

He said the tactic echoed the orchestrated attack on Sukhbir Singh Badal at Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, in the course of which the government not only facilitated the accused in opening fire but also deliberately filed a weak FIR to ensure the swift release of the accused on bail.

Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira has also criticised the security withdrawal. He said, “I think Bhagwant Mann has learnt no lessons from withdrawing security of Punjab leaders merely out of personal hatred and vendetta because we already lost iconic leader and singer Sidhu Moosewala just because the state withdrew his security and flaunted it on social media. He said the action against Majithia had been taken because he was a vocal critic of the AAP government.