No logic in Phoolka seeking pardon: Badal

Tribune News Service

Ghanauli (Ropar), July 8

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said here today that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader HS Phoolka’s decision to visit the Golden Temple to seek pardon for party leader Ashish Khetan’s mistake was a gimmick.

The CM said it was an illogical move by AAP to seek forgiveness after committing blasphemy by displaying a picture of the Golden Temple on the cover of its youth manifesto, along with the photo of a broom (the party symbol).

Badal refuted the AAP allegation that he had compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Baba Banda Singh Bahadur during a function in New Delhi, recently.

On Congress leader Sunil Jakhar serving an ‘ultimatum’ on him to ensure a favourable response from the PM on the SYL issue, he said the matter was pending in the apex court and even the Prime Minister could not intervene at this stage.

Replying to a question, the CM said the entire route of the Safar-e-Shahadat (journey to martyrdom) would be refurbished by the Public Works Department (PWD) from Kuma Mashki village to Ropar and from Ropar to Fatehgarh Sahib via Morinda.

Earlier, Badal laid the foundation stone of the 10.12-km stretch of this road in the district at a cost of Rs 17.52 crore.

Capt: It was intentional 

Chandigarh: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh said here on Friday that juxtaposing an image of the broom along with a picture of the Golden Temple was not an inadvertent error by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) but a deliberate political move aimed at targeting a particular section of society. “But the idea boomeranged and now they are running for cover,” he said. He said AAP wanted to convey an “agnostic and anarchic” message of social change by equating the party symbol with the holiest shrine of the Sikhs. “You are rubbing salt into our wounds,” he told Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal while warning him to desist from “such foolhardy adventures that can have dangerous and disastrous consequences for Punjab.” — TNS