CHANDIGARH: AAP today said that the ruling SAD's district-wise dharnas against the alleged role of the Delhi government in the demolition of a 'piau' at a gurdwara in the national capital was a "complete flop show".
"Reports from all the districts show that only a few Akali workers took part in the dharnas. There was no participation by 'aam aadmis' in these protests," AAP leader Sanjay Singh, Sucha Singh Chhotepur, the state convener of the party, and Sagrur MP Bhagwant Mann said here today.
These "flop shows" should be an "eye-opener" for the Akalis as they point to the prospect of a "humiliating defeat" for the party in the Assembly polls in Punjab in 2017, the AAP leaders said.
The AAP leaders said the people of Punjab are intelligent enough to understand as to who was behind the demolition of the 'piau', or drinking water counter, at the Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Delhi.
Rejecting allegations that the Delhi government had ordered the demolition, the AAP leaders claimed it was the BJP-controlled Municipal Corporation of Delhi that had carried out the demolition drive.
"Sukhbir ji, the public is intelligent enough to understand everything. The day is not far when curtains will come down on your political drama," Sanjay Singh said.
Targeting SAD chief Sukhbir Badal over his comments that he was deeply hurt by the demolition of the 'piau', Sanjay Singh asked why he "wasn't hurt when there was a series of attacks on the Shri Guru Granth Sahib?"
"Where was he (Sukhbir) when police opened fire on peaceful protesters in which two Sikh youths were killed? Why did his heart not melt when innocent Sikh youths were arrested and tortured by police who falsely implicated them in a case of sacrilege?
"Instead of enacting a political drama, Sukhbir should have saved the farmers who were committing suicide due to faulty policies of the state and central governments," Sanjay Singh said.
AAP alleged that instead of extending a helping hand to farmers, the Punjab Agriculture Minister was busy supplying spurious fertilisers to them and ultimately the Agriculture Director was made the scapegoat for the entire racket. The time is ripe for the Badals to book "a family room in their 7-star hotel permanently" as they would not be able to show their faces to the public after the 2017 Assembly polls, the AAP leaders said.