Punjab Newsline | Chandigarh
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the controversy surrounding the Enforcement Directorate (ED) letter sent to the Director General of Police (DGP).
Addressing a press conference, Cheema alleged that the Akali Dal had abandoned its principles and was now functioning as a “mouthpiece” for the BJP and central investigative agencies. He said it was surprising that the SAD was using the ED’s communication with the Punjab DGP as a political tool to target the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
Minister claimed that the Akali Dal was effectively acting as a wing of the BJP in an attempt to regain its lost political ground in Punjab. Referring to the 2007–2017 Akali-BJP government, Cheema held the previous regime responsible for damaging Punjab’s social fabric, economy and youth through drugs, sacrilege incidents and corruption.
He said the people of Punjab had not forgotten the “chitta menace”, the incidents of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and the widespread corruption that, according to him, forced many families to sell land and property to secure a future for their children abroad.
Cheema also targeted the BJP-led central government, alleging that agencies such as the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department were often used to intimidate opposition leaders and destabilise elected state governments. He accused the BJP of lacking faith in democratic values and misusing central agencies whenever elections approached or opposition governments remained politically strong.
Concluding his remarks, Cheema said the people of Punjab were fully aware of the Akali Dal’s “opportunistic politics” and its long-standing alliance with the BJP. He asserted that neither the ED nor the Akali Dal would succeed in misleading Punjabis or derailing the AAP government’s governance agenda.
