New Delhi: A political blame game has started following Wednesday’s assassination attempt on Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal.
The Congress pulled up the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for negligence, while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemned law and order failure in Punjab.
AAP responded to these charges, with former Delhi chief minister and the party’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal claiming that a major conspiracy is being plotted to defame Punjab and its people.
“Today, a major incident was narrowly avoided in Punjab. An attempt was made to shoot former chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, but thanks to the quick action of the Punjab Police, a tragedy was prevented,” Kejriwal said in the Delhi assembly.
Condemning the incident, Kejriwal informed the House that Badal is safe.
“One thing is clear, a big conspiracy is being hatched to defame Punjab and Punjabis, and powerful forces are involved in this. The Punjab Police has prevented an incident and set an example for the whole world on how law and order can be maintained,” Kejriwal added.
He went on to slam the BJP’s double standards.
“When there are open murders happening in Delhi, shootouts taking place, the entire capital is under the control of gangsters, drugs are being sold everywhere, and women are being raped, the entire BJP, from top to bottom, remains silent. And when asked about it, they say that crime is not an issue,” Kejriwal alleged.
Akali Dal chief Badal, who was performing the duty of ‘sewadar’ outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar as part of his punishment from Akal Takht, had a close shave after a man opened fire pointing the weapon towards him but missed the target as he was overpowered.
