Barnala ditched SAD: Badal

Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 27

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today accused former Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala of backstabbing the SAD by fielding his grandson on the Congress ticket for the Dhuri Assembly by-election.

“Barnala originally belonged to the SAD. He remained its president and occupied coveted posts right from Chief Minister to Governor and Union minister. Probably, he was the only leader to whom the Akali Dal gave all respect and recognition. But in return, he ditched the party by fielding his grandson Simar Partap Singh Barnala as an official candidate on the Congress ticket,” he said. The bypoll is to be held on April 11. Badal was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a function organised to observe the 15th death anniversary of veteran Akali leader Jasdev Singh Sandhu.

On a clean chit by the CBI to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, the Chief Minister said the NDA government at the Centre would ensure that the culprits were brought to book. He said a special investigation team constituted by the NDA government would take the accused to task.

Replying to former CM Capt Amarinder Singh’s claim that the state was at a revenue surplus of over Rs2,000 crore in 2006-07 when he demitted office, Badal said everything was on record and “no one should make such tall claims without any ground”. He took a jibe at the Congress leader saying “what is the fun of making such statements? Even I can make such claims. Everyone knows what our government did for development and what Amarinder contributed.”