Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Sunday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had now zeroed in on his predecessor Capt Amarinder Singh and former Akali stalwart Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa as new ally to fill the space vacated by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to promote its divisive discourse in the State.

Commenting on the disclosure made by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the BJP was finalising alliance with Capt Amarinder and break away Akali faction leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Channi said: “Punjab is one state that rebutted BJP’s anti-people and divisive agenda and the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Punjab in 2019.”

“The BJP used the Akali Dal in its anti-farmer agenda to implement the three black laws that the secular Kisan struggle has forced Modi to repeal. SAD had aggressively supported these legislations. Now, Capt Amarinder would function as the full-time tool of the BJP to implement its nefarious anti-people designs,” said Channi. The Chief Minister pointed out that earlier, “the Akali Dal functioned as the vehicle of the BJP to facilitate its parent organisation RSS to spread its wings in Punjab and this body went to the extent of distorting even the Sikh history and thought and the literature brought out by this body about a decade ago is evidence of that agenda. The Akali Dal never protested”.

Channi said that the Akali Dal extended full support to the BJP in its policies of centralisation and cultural homogenisation despite being a votary of federalism for decades. “The interests of Punjab were mortgaged to the BJP by the Akali Dal first under the leadership of Parkash Singh Badal, who had paved the way for this alliance by extending unconditional support to Atal Bihari Vajpayee to form BJP-led government in 1996 that lasted only 13 days. Badal had betrayed Punjab and the Punjabis by extending unconditional support. That was a sell out by Badal of Punjab,” he added.

He said that now Capt Amarinder was all set to perform that malicious role who had been, all along as the Chief Minister, came to the rescue of the Modi Government on crucial issues and in promoting anti-people agenda.

Capt Amarinder Singh replacing SAD as BJP ally was no surprise keeping in view his role to help BJP all along, he added.