Congress, AAP suffer from ‘Badal phobia’: Sukhbir Singh Badal

Sanjeev S Bariana & Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 16

Claiming that all political parties, especially the Congress, were suffering from ‘Badal phobia’, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal has asserted only his party has a clear chain of command to provide a stable government in Punjab.

In an exclusive interview with The Tribune, Sukhbir took a dig at the Congress and the AAP, alleging that both were conspiring against the Akalis as they were afraid of the Badals. He dared the two parties to name a CM candidate and not fall through.

In contrast, he said, everybody knew who the CM candidate of the SAD-BSP alliance was. “You will see Navjot Singh Sidhu leaving the Congress if (CM Charanjit Singh) Channi is announced CM candidate. Similarly, (AAP chief Arvind) Kejriwal himself wants to be the CM of Punjab,” he said.

Terming Channi’s self-projection as ‘aam aadmi’ (common man) a “drama”, Sukhbir insisted that the state needed a visionary CM unlike the present incumbent who was “doling out sops without any financial basis”.

The SAD chief asserted that the party would not go in for any new alliance while claiming that they had received resounding response during their campaign for the 2022 Assembly elections. “I have covered 55 constituencies, including those where the Akalis are contesting for the first time post break-up with the BJP. The response is phenomenal. We are heading for a landslide victory,” he said.