Chandigarh, Feb 9 (IANS) The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday described AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal a "snake in the grass let loose in Punjab by corporate and the anti-Sikh lobbies".
Talking to the media here, Harcharan Bains, Principal Adviser to SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal, asked farm organisations and their leaders, including Joginder Singh Ugrahan and Balbir Singh Rajewal, to wake up to the shocking reality that although the farmers movement forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government to revoke the three "black" farm laws, the most dangerous of these laws is still in force in Delhi with Kejriwal refusing to annul it in the state assembly.
He said, "It is shocking that while the entire country has rejected these laws, Kejriwal typically quietly keeps them in force. One can well imagine what his true anti-farmer intent and agenda in Punjab is."
Bains said Kejriwal "has also filed a case against Punjab farmers and sought a fine of Rs 1 crore per case of stubble warning even when the Supreme Court itself refused to blame the Delhi pollution on the farmers of Punjab and even delivered a rebuff to the Delhi Chief Minister".
The Akali Dal spokesman said that while the AAP leader is promising to abolish private bus operators and ending the mafia raj in liquor trade, the fact is that he has "virtually killed" the DTC in his own state.
"As for stopping liquor trade from passing into the hands of the mafia through public distribution and sale by the government-run liquor shops, Kejriwal has handed over the entire liquor trade to the liquor mafia patronised by big business houses," Bains added.
With an angry Rahul Gandhi sulking and his mother Sonia Gandhi returning to take charge of the Congress, the syndicate of her coterie is back in the party and asserting its clout.
First-time parliamentarians Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan were seen doing a classical dance in a video, to pay tribute to Goddess Durga ahead of the festival of Durga Puja.
While some of the young leaders are making statements in violation of the party line, even praising the Narendra Modi government, some others are quitting the party.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur traded barbs over Twitter on Tuesday over the state government's release of state GST refund on Langar to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.
