CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab senior leader and Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday scoffed at the Akali Dal’s (Badal') announcement of convening an inter-party conclave the federal structure, against the Center’s move to deprive the states of their legitimate powers and rights. Cheema said the Badals, who had been an alliance partner of the BJP government from the times of Vajpayee, were indulging in political drama, saying they had forfeited their moral right to talk about the federal structure and the rights of the states.
In a statement issued from party headquarters on Monday, Harpal Singh Cheema said that the Badal family had first joined hands with the BJP to secure a ministerial berth for Sukhbir Singh Badal in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and then Harsimrat Kaur Badal in the present Modi government, adding that they tend to resort to such cheap gimmickry only to earn some political brownie points.
The LoP said that Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which had been fighting for the federal structure, the Panth and Punjab for a long time since inception, had lost its relevance the moment the Badal started leveraging its good offices for their petty personal interests.
Cheema said that whenever Badals were in power at the state or the centre, the rights of Punjab, the Panth, and Punjab’s water share and or the federal structure never weighed heavy on their minds, saying they had no their moral right to talk about the federal structure, especially when they were out of power. He said that they were pretending to be alive to the burning issues, not for Punjab or the Punjabis but to stay relevant in politics.