Punjab CM has sublet police to Kejriwal: Sukhbir Badal

Chandigarh, May 6 (IANS) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday termed it "condemnable" that at a time when Punjab's law and order position was at its "worst" and "communal harmony in disarray", Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has "sublet" the police force to his Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal to help him in "settling his petty personal scores".

Asking Mann not to become a puppet in the hands of Kejriwal, the SAD President said: "The Chief Minister should take review meetings of the law and order situation as well as ensure those responsible for flaring communal tensions in the recent Patiala clash are brought to task instead of keeping himself busy by deputing Punjab Police teams to Delhi to arrest opponents of AAP."

Telling the Chief Minister to eschew the politics of vendetta, Badal said: "Punjabis did not elect AAP for this task. Punjabis want to witness the meaningful change promised in the state. It is condemnable that instead of fulfilling the promises made to the people, the AAP government is registering cases against its political opponents like Tejinder Bagga who was arrested and later freed from the clutches of Punjab Police by Haryana Police."

Asserting that all this was unwarranted, he asked the Punjab Police chief to refrain from obeying the "illegal commands" of the AAP government. "Punjab Police is known as a professional police force but the manner in which it is being misused by the AAP government has made a mockery of it. The state DGP should show requisite courage and not become a party to vendetta politics."

Badal said the recent events had also removed all doubt that Kejriwal was "treating Punjab as a colony to extend his political empire".

"The Chief Minister of Punjab has virtually become a 'subedar' of the Delhi durbar. All postings and transfers of officers are done from Delhi. The Punjab government has virtually become a subsidiary of the Delhi government. The recent agreement between the two governments has paved the way for complete administrative control of Punjab by Delhi.

"It is shocking that after selling off the interests of Punjab to Delhi, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is now taking illegal dictates to register cases and arrest opponents of AAP."