Punjab: SAD holds statewide protests against Congress, burns RaGa's effigy
The opposition SAD in Punjab held protests on Saturday in all 117 Assembly constituencies of the state against the Congress government's alleged conspiracy to weaken Sikh institutions. Led by senior party leaders, Shiromani Akali Dal workers took to the streets in every constituency and raised slogans against Congress government. They also burned the effigies of Congress President Rahul Gandhi and CM Amarinder Singh.
SAD Chief Sukhbir Singh Badal didn't participate in the protests
The senior party leaders who led the protests in different constituencies included Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Sikandar Singh Maluka, Jathedar Tota Singh, Daljit Singh Cheema, Prem Singh Chandumajra and Hira Singh Gabria. However, SAD Chief Sukhbir Singh Badal did not participate in the protests. SAD workers condemned Congress's Punjab unit Chief Sunil Jhakar for threatening them that they won't be allowed to enter villages.
SAD leaders accused Congress govt of working with radical groups
SAD leaders warned the Congress that they stood for maintaining peace and communal harmony and that it should desist from instigating violence in the state. They accused Congress government of working with radical groups to hatch a conspiracy to "defame" the Akalis in order to gain control of the Sikh religious institutions including the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), a party release said.
Congress government was trying to implement 'anti-Sikh' agenda: SAD
The SAD leaders said Amarinder Singh-led Congress government was trying to implement its age-old "anti-Sikh" agenda to "divide" the Sikhs for its "petty political" goals as it did in the 1980s. In a statement, former SGPC President and Minister Jagir Kaur attacked the Congress leadership for allegedly vitiating the communal amity in the state with its hostile posturing.
