Sheer Punjab govt’s incompetence: Opposition

Chandigarh, April 30

Opposition parties, including the Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP, today flayed the state government for its alleged “utter incompetence” in handling the situation in Patiala.

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal described the incidents of violence as a “matter of grave concern”. He said the incidents were the direct outcome of “the utter administrative incompetence and reckless political opportunism” of the AAP regime.

“In just a few weeks, they have undone the fruit of decades of sacrifices of Punjabis for peace and brought the state to the edge of a dangerous communal precipice. This is the direct outcome of the politics of confrontation and communal hatred that AAP has been practising in Punjab in recent years,” alleged Sukhbir. Earlier, BJP’s state party president Ashwani Sharma along with two general secretaries Rajesh Bhaga and Subhash Sharma paid obeisance at the Kali Devi Mandir in Patiala and said “peace has to be maintained at all cost”.

“The administration should have been more alert and prepared to tackle a sensitive situation,” said Sharma. — TNS 

Mann’s priorities Misplaced: Bajwa

Leader of Opposition Partap Bajwa said CM Bhagwant Mann was again off to New Delhi to attend a conference at Vigyan Bhawan. “Instead of attending the conference, he should have visited Patiala along with his DGP to take first-hand stock of the situation,” said Bajwa.