Don't vote for those who defect for personal gains: Parkash Singh Badal

CHANDIGARH: Hitting out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), five-time Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday called upon the people of the state not to elect those who would sell their loyalties to the highest bidder and defect to other parties for personal gains once the elections are over.

Badal, 94, said there are political opportunists in the fray who are eager for a chance to turn the state into an open political mandi.

Badal, the grand old man of Punjab politics and the patriarch of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), pointed at the experience of the previous elections after which 11 of the 20 MLAs of AAP had "sold" themselves to others, betraying the people's mandate.

"Punjab needs responsible leadership to save it from instability and chaos. Punjab will turn into a lawless state if reckless, adventurist and selfish leaders get a chance to ruin the state," said Badal.

The Akali leader, the country's oldest politician after BJP veteran L.K. Advani (94), blasted AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal for seeking a "mauka" (chance) from Punjabis while openly demanding hefty fines on Punjab farmers for burning stubble and filing a case in Supreme Court to rob the state of its river waters.

"He (Kejriwal) has banned the teaching of the language of Guru Sahiban in Delhi and has lied in public while opposing the release of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar. If such a person gets a 'mauka', Punjab will lose everything it has because Bhagwant Mann has no guts to stop Kejriwal from robbing the state," Badal said.

Earlier, addressing a rally in Lambi from where he is in the fray for the sixth time with five consecutive wins in his kitty, Badal said most candidates of the Congress and AAP have purchased tickets with money and if they get elected, they would be certain to barter their seats for money and other selfish gains.

The Akali stalwart, who spent 17 years in jail for his involvement in various Akali movements, a fact that prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to call him Nelson Mandela, said that 62 candidates of AAP and many among the Congressmen had defected to their current party, and they neither had any commitment, nor integrity.

"If these candidates get elected, you will see Punjab turning into a haven for horse-trading," he said. (IANS)

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