JALANDHAR: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) – Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) joint candidate Dr Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi today said the Chaudhary family of Ch Santokh Singh, whose demise had led to the bypoll, had lost all rights to the votes of people of this parliamentary constituency because it had failed to do anything despite having held sway for nearly thirty years.
Addressing largely attended public meetings at different villages in Nakodar, Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi said Ch Santokh Singh had failed to deliver anything despite having been elected twice in a row from this constituency. “I challenge the Congress party to tell three achievements of Ch Santokh. If it succeeds in doing this I will admit that the family has a right to the votes of this constituency”.
Asserting that he had taken a round of the constituency during the last more than ten days and been disappointed with even basic infrastructure, Dr Sukhi said “Ch Santokh received Rs 50 crore to spend as he so desired during the last nine years but there is nothing on the ground to suggest that he made any positive change in the constituency”.
Dr Sukhi also took the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to task for failing both Baba Saheb BR Ambedkar as well as Shaheed Bhagat Singh, who it hailed as its icons. “The AAP government did not celebrate the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb as a state function on April 14 and has even insulted the entire scheduled caste community by submitting an affidavit in the high court stating that SC candidates did not have the required intelligence to be appointed as law officers in the State government”. He also cited how the government had insulted the martyr Bhagat Singh by replacing his photograph on the primary health centre in Khatkar Kalan with that of the chief minister.
Asserting that the AAP government was anti-dalit, Dr Sukhi said “government was unable to find a single dalit candidate to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha despite having seven vacancies. Eventually we know how the appointments were given away for extraneous reasons”.
The SAD-BSP candidate also urged women folk to ask the AAP candidate to first ensure deposition of Rs 14, 000 into the account of every adult woman in this constituency before asking for votes on behalf of the party. “AAP candidate Sukshil Rinku had made this very claim when he was in the Congress one month back. He should not go back on this contention”.
Senior SAD leader Kuldeep Singh Wadala also took on the AAP-BJP combine in well attended meetings. He said the AAP government had colluded with the centre to bring in excess para military forces into the State and then had imposed the draconian NSA to paint Sikhs as separatists. He also castigated chief minister Bhagwant Mann for insulting the Sri Akal Takht Jathedar and going against the sentiments of the Sikh community to please his political masters.