CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal on Thursday asked the BJP why it has "abandoned" the principles of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The Shiromani Akali Dal slammed the saffron party, a day after BJP's national general secretary Tarun Chugh charged Sukhbir Singh Badal with "spreading poison and igniting communal passions" in Punjab under the garb of farmers' cause.
Chugh had reacted to Badal's accusation that the BJP is the "real tukde-tukde gang".
Expressing shock at the statement of the BJP leader, SAD senior leader Prem Singh Chandumajra said, "The Punjab BJP seems to have taken up the Congress policy of divide and rule, which can only have devastating repercussions for the state."
The SAD appeals to Punjabis to realise the "dangerous game" being played by the state BJP leaders who are ready to "spoil" the peace of the state, alleged Chandumajra in a statement here.
"They are gearing up to make one brother (Sikh) fight against another (Hindu) solely to get a foothold after being overwhelmingly rejected by people following the enactment of the three agricultural marketing acts," he alleged.
Asking the state BJP leaders to take their fight to the Centre, Chandumajra said, "You need to ask your party leadership why it has abandoned the moderate policies of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and forgotten to take everyone along with you."
"Instead of spewing venom against the SAD, you should ask the Centre why it has taken an anti-farmer line. Why is the new BJP toeing the line of the corporate sector? Why did it frame legislation without even consulting the stakeholders and why it is bent on giving a gift which farmers don't want," he asked.
Chandumajra said the BJP leaders should start thinking about the welfare of the country instead of "polarising" Hindus and Sikhs into different camps.
The Shiromani Akali Dal had quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance earlier this year in protest against the Centre's contentious farm laws.