Chandigarh, January 21 – Senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Leader of Opposition, Harpal Singh Cheema has described the clarification being given by the Badals on the visible rift between the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) long standing alliance as the height of double standards of the Badals.
In a statement issued from party quarters on Tuesday, Harpal Singh Cheema said even though it was an internal matter of the BJP and the Akali Dal (Badal), the plausible reason being cited by the Badal and party invoking the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), was far from the ground reality, saying the SAD’s stand on the CAA / NCR / NPR was categorical clear when it came for discussion on the floor of the Parliament. The LoP said that both Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife and union minister, Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Both members of Parliament – MPs) had voted in favor of the CAA.
The AAP leader accused the Badal couple of maintaining double standards, saying that the Badal couple 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 the public announcement made by the Akali Dal (Badal) on Monday to boycotting the ensuing Assembly elections invoking CAA was nothing but a mere political gambit to save Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s ministerial berth. Cheema added that the dubious role of the Badals on the controversial Act in the Parliament as also in Punjab Assembly had brought forth their dual face.
Cheema 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?
The LoP further said that the Badals had been forced to pull out of the Delhi elections race simply to protect Harsimrat Kaur’s ministry citing CAA as the plausible reason for staying away, which, he said, was far from being truth of the matter, saying they never ever raised their voice against the CAA or took a clear stand on the same before January 20, 2020.
