PATIALA – The Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, Capt Amarinder Singh condemned the “politics of blackmail” resorted to by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Referring to Badal’s statement that the SAD-BJP alliance was a must for communal harmony in the state, he asked him to elaborate on the issue.
“Did you mean that both the parties are communal representing two communal organisations and that being together is in the state’s interest,” he asked.
He asked the BJP to come clear on the issue. “The mistrust you ( BJP and SAD) share has led to political uncertainty in the state and this is reflecting on governance,” he said.
The former Chief Minister said he was surprised at Badal’s “open threat” to the BJP that if the latter walked out of the SAD-led government, it would lead to a communal divide in Punjab. “Do you mean to say that if this happens, there will be communal riots in the state,” he asked Badal.
The Congress MP claimed that Badal was resorting to such threats as he apprehended threat to his government. He advised the Chief Minister to shed his “sectarian mindset”, lest it harmed Punjab. Amarinder Singh pointed out that more people had died in the state owing to drug trafficking “patronised” by the Badal government than at the hands of militants. “ It is time to think and take action and not resort to political blackmail,” he added.
