Capt, Sukhbir in war of words over vandalisation incident

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Chandigarh, December 25: Condemning the vandalisation of Rajiv Gandhi’s statue by workers of the SAD in Ludhiana, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday asked Sukhbir Badal to stop indulging in petty politics, warning him that such acts would backfire on his party in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

The Chief Minister asked Sukhbir to immediately apologise for the obnoxious act of his party workers, who were clearly acting on an agenda to garner votes in the ensuing polls. “Indulgence in such petty and condemnable actions will not absolve you or your family of the many sins of omission and commission against the Guru Granth Sahib and the Sikh community,” the Chief Minister told Sukhbir.

Hitting back at Capt Amarinder, SAD president Sukhbir Badal said, “It would have been better if you as a true Sikh and Punjab CM had condemned the Gandhi family and demanded expulsion of Sajjan Kumar and Kamal Nath from Congress party. But you are too busy in sycophancy of Gandhi family to save your chair.”

“You should apologise to the Sikh sangat for failing them as CM and standing with hated Gandhi family. The community has shown what it thinks of Rajiv Gandhi in Ludhiana. Don’t disrespect the sentiments of Sikhs,” Sukhbir said in a series of tweets.

Meanwhile, Capt Amarinder has directed the district police to immediately identify the culprits responsible for the violence and take stringent action against them, as per law.

Lashing out at the Akalis, Captain Amarinder Singh said in their desperation to win public support, which the party had completely lost due to its criminal acts of commission and omission in the 10 years of SAD-BJP rule, the Badals and their supporters were stooping to abominable levels.

“Had the Gandhis been involved in any way, they would have been named by at least some of the victims in the wake of the riots,” he observed, adding that while he had personally visited the refugee camps to meet the victims, Sukhbir had packed his bags and left for the US and was thus totally unaware of the developments at that time.