Channi says Sukhbir planned protests as he saw defeat ahead

› The Akali Dal has left the battlefield and the Aam Aadmi Party is out of the scene. The Congress will definitely win the civic elections. CHARANJIT CHANNI, minister

SANGRUR :Punjab technical education minister Charanjit Channi has said that Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal ‘had planned’ protests in advance as he saw defeat coming in the local bodies elections in the state.

“The SAD president had decided to hold protests after nominations for the municipal corporation and nagar panchayat elections. His luggage had reached the protests site, before he arrived. This is even as elections are being conducted in a democratic way and there are no reports of irregularities,” the Congress minister, who was in Lehragaga to attend a local kabaddi tournament function said.

“The SAD has left the battle field and the Aam Aadmi Party is out of the scene. The Congress will definitely win these elections,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, former chief minister, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal said that SAD’s allegations that illegal means were being deployed in the elections were baseless. “If Akali Dal has the gall to claim that it is a religious party, then its workers should have staged protests against the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib which took place during the SAD-BJP regime in Punjab,” Bhattal, who lost the assembly polls this time from Lehragaga, added.

The Congress has been accused by the SAD-BJP of using strong-arm tactics to desist its candidates from filing papers for the civic polls.