DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday attacked the Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP, accusing them of desperately trying to forge an unholy alliance to return to power in the state.

Cheema's remarks came two days after Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar reportedly said that his party's alliance with the SAD was the need of the hour.

"For a long time now, BJP and Akali Dal leaders have been restless and desperate to somehow return to power in Punjab. Day in and day out, their leaders make statements suggesting they want to renew ties.

"While the SAD chief tries to deny any alliance, BJP national leaders say they will contest (assembly polls) alone in Punjab. I want to remind everyone of Punjab's dark past written during their rule, pages full of pain for the state," claimed Cheema.

The SAD had parted ways with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2020 over the issue of three farm laws which were later repealed.

Cheema also alleged that both parties were responsible for the "rampant drug menace that devastated Punjab's youth".

"It was under the SAD-BJP alliance government that drugs were deliberately pushed into Punjab to ruin an entire generation. It was a conspiracy hatched together by the SAD and the BJP to destroy Punjab's youth. Gangster culture was nurtured by these very parties,"

he claimed.

"The entire country knows it was the BJP which brought in the three black farm laws. Punjab is a state that feeds the nation, yet when the BJP was in power at the Centre in alliance with SAD, both chose to ruin Punjab's youth and its future," said Cheema.

Recalling the farmers' agitation over the now-repealed farm laws, Cheema said, "It was during their rule that those black laws were brought in. Every farmer stood up against them. Under public pressure, SAD broke ties with the BJP saying they would never ally again because the BJP tried to destroy farmers. Now I fail to understand, how shamelessly are they talking about a fresh alliance?"

He further said that the 2015 sacrilege incidents took place in the state when the SAD-BJP was in power.

"Today, they are desperate to stitch together this unholy, unprincipled alliance. But let me tell them clearly, Punjab's people will never trust them again. They have seen the true face of the SAD and BJP. Every time they came to power, Punjab suffered. Now, Punjab has an honest Aam Aadmi Party

government," he said.

(editor@dailyworld.in)