SAD to contest byelection on harmony plank

Chandigarh, April 1

Resolving to contest the Jalandhar parliamentary byelection on the plank of peace and communal harmony, the SAD core committee today unanimously authorised party president Sukhbir Singh Badal to select the candidate for the bypoll.

It was announced that a SAD-BSP coordination committee meeting would be held soon in this regard.

Claiming that efforts were afoot to disturb peace in Punjab, the core committee alleged AAP had become party to the conspiracy to destabilise the state. It alleged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was solely responsible for the current state of affairs even as it condemned him for “insulting” the Akal Takht Jathedar and “gagging” the voice of media, intelligentsia and artists.

Sukhbir said the party would continue to seek justice for all innocent Sikh youths who had been arrested on trivial charges. The core committee also took note of suffering of the farmers who have been hit by hailstorms and heavy rain. It expressed shock that the AAP government had reneged on its election promise to provide a compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre for crop damage before conduct of girdawari.