AMRITSAR: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has urged Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria as well as the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take note of the manner in which government funds were used to hold a rally of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at Killi Chehlan in Moga today.
Ina statement here, SAD senior leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said AAP was playing deceitful politics by linking its rally today with the government’s ‘Yudh Nashain Virudh’ scheme even though its purpose was to blow the bugle for its election campaign for the 2027 assembly elections. “Government funds were not only used to ferry people to the rally but the entire cost of the rally has been charged to the government. This despite the fact that the rally was presided over by AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal and the Delhi leadership of the party which has no role in governance in Punjab”.
Terming this kind of politics as shameful, Dr Daljit Cheema said the rally also witnessed purely political speeches and leveling of wild allegations against political opponents. He urged both the Governor and the ECI to initiate the process of recovery of the entire amount spent in the rally from AAP as the same was held against norms and could not qualify as a government event.
The SAD leader also condemned the manner in which the chief secretary and the Director General of Police were forced to address a political rally. He said this would result in the politicization of the State bureaucracy and was not good for democracy. “Tomorrow the AAP government will force district level officers to all address political rallies and become part and parcel of AAP”, he said adding free and fair elections could not be expected in such a situation.