Dhuri/Sangrur, April 3: The former Chief Minister Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal today alleged that the Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal was trying to blackmail people in Dhuri by saying that in case they wanted development, they should vote for the Akali Dal candidate Mr Gobind Singh Longowal.
“Mr Badal is not the Chief Minister of the Akalis only but of the entire state and as such, this style of campaigning amounts to blackmail and is indirectly coercive in nature that is against the norms of democratic functioning. A chief minister cannot discriminate with a region just because the people there did not vote for the ruling party. This reflected vindictiveness and the people should give a befitting reply to such tactics”, she said while addressing a series of public meetings today in favour of the party candidate Mr Simar Partap Singh Barnala.
Mrs Bhattal said Mr Badal continued to ignore this constituency all these years but started disbursing money under his sangat darshan programmes once the seat was declared vacant after the resignation by Mr Arvind Khanna. This behaviour was not befitting to the high office he was holding.
She said this style of campaigning had once again proved that the functioning Mr Badal was parochial against which the Congress MLAs had been complaining all along. Mr Badal would be justified in saying that the people of the area would be denied the luxury of travelling in the super luxury buses of his family which is his business but he could not deny development of the constituency from the state kitty.
He pointed out that he was just trying to mislead the people by showing this mirage of development as the state was bankrupt and even the NDA had failed to come to Mr badal’s rescue in which his own party is the partner.
She said in case the leader of the stature of Mr Badal had any self-respect, he should have withdrawn his daughter-in-law Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Modi cabinet to lodge strong protest against discrimination by the centre at every level.