‘AAP workers won’t stay alive if Badal tells Akalis to turn violent’

Union minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday warned the Aam Aadmi Party, saying if Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal told SAD workers to turn violent, AAP supporters will not stay alive.

The member of Parliament from Bathinda, who was campaigning in Budhlada, made the comments after a protester hurled a shoe at the CM during a function in Lambi in Muktsar earlier on Wednesday.

This was the second attack on the Badals in four days. A few days ago, protesters hurled stones at Harsimrat’s husband and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal’s cavalcade in Jalalabad in which four people were hurt.

While the shoe-thrower has been linked to Sikh radicals, the Jalalabad protest was attributed to the AAP by the Akalis. AAP legislator Bhagwant Mann has denied any involvement.

The food processing industries minister also accused Mann of encouraging voters to turn violent ahead of the Punjab elections. While talking about welfare schemes launched by the state government, she also urged people to stay away from the AAP and its national convener Arvind Kejriwal.

“A Haryanvi and now the chief minister of Delhi, Kejriwal is alien to our culture. He has double standards on issues like SYL canal, concerning Punjab,” Kaur said.

She also criticised Congress state chief Captain Amarinder Singh and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for “defaming” the state on the drug issue.

“After 1984, Punjabis were labelled as terrorists across the nation. Now they are labelled as drug addicts, thanks to the Congress party,” she said.

Kaur addressed gatherings in different wards of Budhlada town and urged people to vote for SAD candidate Nishan Singh.