Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal today said Punjabis were the worst sufferers of the diplomatic stand-off between India and Canada and urged the Centre to redress their concerns at the earliest.
We are concerned about the travel restrictions which are impacting the Punjabis as well as apprehensions of the youth that the ongoing crisis will affect their future. The issue should be redressed at the earliest. Sukhbir Badal, SAD Chief
Addressing a public meeting here, the SAD president said the suspension of visa facilities by India had deeply impacted the Punjabis, many of whom were stranded in Canada. “Many of our brethren need to return to their homeland immediately but are unable to do so”. He said he had called upon Home Minister Amit Shah recently and was hopeful of a quick resolution to the crisis.
“We are concerned about the travel restrictions which are impacting the Punjabis as well as apprehensions of the youth that the ongoing crisis will affect their future. The issue should be redressed at the earliest.”
Speaking about the financial mismanagement by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, Sukhbir said the state exchequer was being emptied to expand the wings of AAP across the country. He said the Punjabis also expressed resentment at the big fat wedding of AAP MP Raghav Chadha in which crores were spent.
“Since Chadha has filed an income tax returns of only Rs 2.44 lakh in 2020-21, the Chief Minister should explain whether the Punjab Government has foot the bill of the destination wedding or industrialists. The Chief Minister should come clean on this issue,” Badal said.
The SAD president also asked the Chief Minister to tell why he was not disclosing how the Rs 50,000 crore loan taken by the AAP government in the last one and a half years had been utilised.
“It seems the Chief Minister has something to hide as he has refused to give the details to the Governor. It seems the AAP government does not want the Punjabis to know that it has stopped all development and even stopped social welfare schemes so that it can release hundreds of crores for advertisements in other states,” he said.
