(Says AAP alignment with radicals was responsible for blast)
(Says earlier Congress under Amarinder also courted radicals)
Chandigarh - Union food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today said the recent bomb blast at Maur was a wake up call for Punjabis to reject both AAP and Congress and vote in the SAD- BJP alliance which was committed to maintaining peace and communal harmony in Punjab at all costs.
In a statement here, Mrs Badal said the Congress had given birth to terrorism in Punjab. She said Capt Amarinder gave a fillip to extremist forces as chief minister by addressing a Khalistani conclave at Jalalabad. "He did this to use the radical elements against SAD. Today AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal is doing the same. He has aligned himself with extremist forces who have assured him support in the forthcoming elections. It seems both the Congress and AAP have a common goal to destabilise Punjab and derail PM Narendra Modi's development agenda", she added.
Explaining the entire sequence of events which led to the recent bomb blast, Mrs Badal said first Kejriwal went abroad and hobnobbed with radicals. She said this was followed by few rounds of talks in Punjab in which Kejriwal promised to hand over management of the gurdwaras to the radical forces. She said following this AAP helped radicals to organise the so called Sarbat Khalsa. She said recently the AAP leader met the spokesperson of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha in Mohali besides the parallel jathedars appointed by separatist forces and also stayed at the residence of Khalistan Commando Force terrorist Gurinder Singh Ghali.
The Union minister said this kind of active alignment with radical elements had witnessed the brother of a parallel jathedar throwing a shoe at chief minister P. S Badal. She said the recent bomb blast at Maur was also a direct fallout of this alignment. She said another proof of the alignment was that both youth accused of the Behbal Kalan sacrilege - Rupinder and Jaswinder Mann - were supporting AAP in the present elections.
Mrs Badal said a large number of outsiders had entered Punjab, including some from oversees, to foment trouble. "We have already complained to the Election Commission. But what is really needed is to understand the conspiracy. If we do not stop them today they will recruit your children for terrorist activities tomorrow ".
Stating that Punjab needed a strong government to keep such elements in check, Mrs Badal said the SAD- BJP alliance government had a proven track record of maintaining peace at all costs. "We are committed to continuing this legacy under Badal Sahab's leadership", she added.
