War of words on between AAP and SAD

Mohit Khanna 

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 19 

The recovery of over 1 lakh litre hooch from a vacant land in Sidhwan Bet has led to war of words between the Aam Aadmi Party and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). 

Taking a jibe at SAD, AAP leader Darshan Singh Shankar said it must be the handiwork of the Opposition leaders as they were threatened by the huge public support extended to AAP leader HS Phoolka. 

“They may have kept it and planned to distribute it during the time of elections. This is what they did in the past.  We are determined to end the menace of drugs, which is plaguing the state,” Shankar said. 

The Excise Department recovered over 1 lakh litre of hooch dug up in Madhepur village in Sidhwan Bet. 

The area is facing fierce competition between sitting SAD MLA Manpreet Ayali and AAP contender HS Phoolka. Drug addiction among youngsters is a major issue of the constituency. 

AAP leaders accused sitting MLA Manpreet Ayali of failing to curb drug menace.  They said though multispecialty parks have been built in the constituency, no youth has been left to play in these parks as a majority of them have been hooked to drugs being made available by the present regime. 

Tanvir Dhaliwal, spokesperson,Youth Akali Dal, however, slammed Darshan Singh Shankar’s statement as baseless. He said it would be yet another petty tactic of AAP to create hype in the run-up to the elections.