Rejecting the Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) claims linking Delhi poll decision with Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as “ludicrous”, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday challenged the Akalis to walk the talk and quit alliance at the Centre to prove their sincerity with regard to the “unconstitutional legislation”, which they were party to passing in both Houses of Parliament.
Capt Amarinder ridiculed SAD’s claim that it had chosen not to contest the Delhi Assembly polls due to differences with BJP over the CAA asking “why don’t you (Akalis) walk the talk and show the people of India that you really stand against the divisive and destructive CAA?”
He urged the SAD Ministers in the Union Cabinet to immediately resign in support of their stated stand on the controversial legislation, that had evoked widespread nationwide protests from all sections of the society.
“If you found the CAA to be anti-Muslim, why did you support and pass the legislation in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha?” Capt Amarinder asked the Akalis, adding that the vociferous support extended by SAD to the legislation in the Parliament was a matter of record.
Pointing out that Delhi was the second state, after Haryana, where the SAD had decided not to go with their ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Chief Minister said that their claim that they had decided against contesting the Delhi polls on account of differences on CAA was preposterous and unacceptable.
“The decision to opt out of the Delhi elections is clearly motivated by political compulsions as the SAD had evidently realized that it had no ground support and could not win even a single seat in the national capital,” he said adding that perhaps, the BJP was not ready to give them what they wanted in terms of seats, prompting them to look for a graceful way out of the situation.
Taking a dig at the SAD leadership, including party chief Sukhbir Badal and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, over their spate of contradictory and conflicting statements on CAA, the Chief Minister said that the Akalis did not have a principled stand on this major issue of national importance.
“Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s claim that the party had been under pressure to review its stand on CAA is ludicrous, to say the least, considering the discordant notes the Akalis had been striking on the issue for the past several days,” he added.
No wonder the SAD was in a shambles, having lost all ground support in Punjab (purportedly their stronghold), and also facing severe internal discord that threatened to split the party down the centre, Capt Amarinder remarked.
The Chief Minister advised the Akalis to stop trying to befool the people with their bogus claims and contrarian stand on such a sensitive and critical issue, on which the nation’s future depended. “You cannot expect people to believe that you are serious when you continue to stand with the BJP in Parliament and in the government at the Centre,” he added.
SUKHBIR ASKS CM TO CLARIFY IF HE OPPOSES CAA TO GIVE RELIEF TO PERSECUTED SIKHS
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal on Tuesday asked Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to clarify if he was opposed to giving relief to persecuted Sikhs under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and whether he was fighting to get the entire Act rejected to end the relief given to Sikhs under CAA.
“By opposing CAA, the Chief Minister is opposing the relief given to Sikhs under the Act. This does nothing except fulfill the anti-Sikh agenda of the Congress party,” he said.
Sukhbir said that if Capt Amarinder is really serious about giving relief to persecuted Sikhs in Pakistan and Afghanistan with recent figures of the Pak human rights themselves stating that 1000 Hindu or Sikh girls were abducted and forcibly married off to Muslim men, he should join SAD in seeking inclusion of Muslims in the CAA.
Sukhbir said that SAD voted in favour of the Citizen Amendment Bill to save the Sikhs. “We, however, recorded our dissent with me demanding that Muslims also be included in the new Act. We have stuck to our stand and have preferred to forsake contesting the Delhi assembly elections rather than give up our principled stand on this issue,” he said.
Stating that the SAD did not need any lessons on how to react to a situation from a “failed” Chief Minister, the SAD president said that Akali Dal, on its part, would continue its struggle to get Muslims included in the ambit of CAA and would continue to use the good offices of Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal also for this purpose.
He said that the party had, simultaneously, made it clear that it was against National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Sukhbir said that it was understandable that Capt Amarinder could not comprehend what it meant to stand by principles.
“It is a fact that the Sikh community of Delhi has put forward a demand to contest from eight seats in the forthcoming assembly elections. The party considered the demand but decided that it must champion the cause of all minorities and not only members of its own community,” he said.
AAP SAYS SAD OPTED OUT OF DELHI POLLS FOR HARSIMRAT'S MINISTERIAL BERTH
A day after the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) decided against contesting the Delhi Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday asserted that the Akali Dal opted out of Delhi polls to ‘protect’ Badal bahu’s ministerial berth.
Senior AAP leader and the Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema described the clarification being given by the Badals on the visible rift between the SAD (Badal) and the BJP long standing alliance as the height of double standards of the Badals.
“Even though it is an internal matter of the BJP and the SAD (Badal), the plausible reason cited by the Badal and party invoking the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), is far from the ground reality,” said Cheema adding that the SAD’s stand on the CAA, NCR or NPR was categorically clear when it came for discussion on the floor of the Parliament.
Cheema said that both Sukhbir and his wife and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal (both MPs) had voted in favor of the CAA. He accused the Badal couple of maintaining double standards, saying that they favored the CAA in the Parliament and back home in Punjab, were shedding crocodile tears to exhibit their abiding love for the Muslim community.
Cheema alleged that SAD’s “public announcement” was nothing but a mere political gambit to save Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal's ministerial berth.
“The dubious role of the Badals on the controversial Act in the Parliament as also in Punjab Assembly has brought forth their dual face,” he said. He questioned that if the Akali Dal (Badal) could withdraw from the Delhi assembly elections on the issue of CAA, “why could not it part ways with the alliance partners by pulling out of the Union Ministry to teach BJP a lesson on the issue of CAA?”
