The Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP on Monday accused Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of insulting freedom fighter Bhagat Singh after AAP leaders and ministers in the state held a day-long fast at Khatkar Kalan to protest the arrest of party supremo Arvind Kejriwal. Khatkar Kalan is the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

On the AAP’s call for a nationwide collective fast, Mann and several ministers and AAP MLAs gathered at Khatkar Kalan in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district on Sunday for a day-long fast.

SAD chief Sukhbir Badal said, “It is shocking that Bhagwant Mann, who has used to swear by the name of the martyr, misused the Shaheed Bhagat Singh museum to hold a party protest which seeks the release of Kejriwal who has been denied bail in the liquor scam case by courts.” During his Punjab Bachao Yatra in Samrala and Bassi Pathana, Badal urged people to boycott Mann and accused the chief minister of “insulting” Bhagat Singh by “misusing” his native village. “Mann did not visit Khatkar Kalan March 23, the martyrdom day of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, and now he is misusing the site to seek relief for his boss Kejriwal,” the SAD chief said.

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh also came down heavily on the AAP government in Punjab for staging the protest at Khatkar Kalan. In a statement, Chugh condemned the chief minister and ministers for “taking shelter under the name of Bhagat Singh to hide corruption done by the senior party leaders led by Kejriwal”.  “It is a big insult to Shaheed Bhagat Singh. The people of Punjab will never forgive the AAP leaders”, he said.

Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa also slammed the AAP for its day-long fast in support of Kejriwal. “It is highly shameful for the AAP to organise a hunger strike at such a pious place against the arrest of Kejriwal, who was arrested by the ED in a liquor-related case,” he said in a statement.