SAD trying to regain lost ground with aid of gangsters, says AAP

Punjab AAP chief spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Saturday accused the Shiromani Akali Dal of attempting to revive its political fortunes in the state through “links with gangsters”.

Addressing a press conference here, Dhaliwal cited the recent arrest of Kanchanpreet Kaur, the daughter of SAD’s Tarn Taran bypoll candidate Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa, as what he called the “proof of the Akali Dal’s deep nexus with the criminal world”.

“The arrest of a gangster’s wife, Kanchanpreet Kaur, has exposed how gangsters and the Akali Dal function hand-in-hand,” Dhaliwal alleged. He said the SAD, led by Sukhbir Singh Badal, had “already lost its political relevance in Punjab due to its own wrongdoings” and now it was “trying to re-enter state politics through gangster support”. Dhaliwal alleged that gangsterism flourished during the decade-long SAD-BJP rule in Punjab from 2007-17.

Referring to Kanchanpreet, he claimed the SAD was “hiding the fact” that she was the wife of a “notorious gangster facing over 30 FIRs”.

“Why is the Akali Dal afraid to admit that she is a gangster’s wife? How did she come to Punjab? How did her immigration happen?” Dhaliwal said, alleging that she used her husband to threaten voters over phone calls during the bypoll. Calling the issue a serious law-and-order concern, Dhaliwal asserted that neither people nor the state government would allow such elements to influence politics.

Victim of political vendetta, claims Akali Dal

Chandigarh: The SAD on Saturday said Kanchanpreet Kaur was arrested out of political vendetta at the behest of the state government. “She was detained by the Jhabal police under FIR No. 208 by incorporating Section 111 of the BNS against her in an old case,” said SAD’s legal cell head Arshdeep Kler.

Senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema urged all democratic and women groups to rise above differences and condemn the “misuse of power”. “This evil must be nipped in the bud. Such unconstitutional actions cannot be allowed,” he said.