Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal accused People’s Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Badal of “entering into a secret understanding with Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to become the chief minister of Punjab by forgetting Congress party’s role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots”.
Sukhbir, who was in Gidderbaha to hold a series of Sangat Darshan programmes, alleged that Mukherjee “dangled the carrot of chief ministership, asking Manpreet if he could cause a split in SAD and bring 40 SAD MLAs with him”. The SAD president alleged that Manpreet dreamt to “overthrow” Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who “launched” his (PPP chief’s) political career.
But the committed Akali MLAs and workers “recognised the true face” of Manpreet, he added. “Following this, Congress withdrew from the scene and left Manpreet in the lurch after sensing that his experiment had failed,” said Sukhbir