Bhagwant vs Sukhbir: Kejri sets up title clash
JALALABAD: Setting up what could be the mother of all battles in the Punjab assembly polls, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal declared Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann as the party’s candidate against deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal “from wherever he would fight”, at a rally in the latter’s constituency, Jalalabad, in Fazilka district on Sunday.
Mann later dared state Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh to leave Patiala and instead contest against him and Sukhbir, who has won twice from Jalalabad. He also likened the contest to Kejriwal’s successful fight against the then Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit and hailed the “trend to chellenge the top leader”.
“Mann will haunt Sukhbir Badal (president of Shiromani Akali Dal) as his rival in any constituency that he’d like to contest from in the polls (due early next year),” said Delhi CM Kejriwal, who moved the proposal to field Mann as a resolution that was unanimously passed by the top leadership on stage.
However, on the first day of his 10-day tour, Kejriwal said nothing on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in his 20-minute speech. His comrades, including Mann, HS Phoolka, state unit chief convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich, incharge Jarnail Singh, spokesman Sukhpal Khaira and MP Sadhu Singh, all blamed CM Parkash Singh Badal and state Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh for the SYL imbroglio, which saw its latest dramatic turn after the Supreme Court held as “invalid” Punjab’s 2004 law that had annulled all water-sharing pacts, including the SYL with Haryana.
Kejriwal has issued no statement since, and faces a piquant situation as he is a Haryana native. Kejriwal said nothing also on the Centre’s move of demonetisation of old high-value notes.
He kept his speech, otherwise, limited to rhetoric against rival parties. “Congress aur Akali Dal ke paas sab kuchh hai, lekin imaandari aur sachaai nahin hai; jo ki hamare paas hai. (Congress and SAD have everything, except honesty and truthfulness, which we possess.)”