Punjab govt will not tolerate coercive tactics against officials: CM Amarinder Singh

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday warned Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal that his government will not tolerate "coercive tactics" against police and administrative officials.

His remarks comes a day after Sukhbir had reportedly said in Gurdaspur that his party was in the process of filing a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking action against police officials, who were "implicating his party's workers in false cases at the behest of the ruling party's MLAs."

The chief minister said his government did not believe in "victimisation or vindictive" action, but was following the democratic norms in every case.

Amarinder warned the former deputy chief minister to "desist" from engaging in "provocative" statements and deeds that could disturb and disrupt the state's peace and stability.

He made it clear that his government would come down heavily on individuals or organisations indulging in such activities.

Rejecting allegations that his government or its officers were filing false cases against the Akalis, the chief minister said it was the erstwhile Badal government which believed in filing false and baseless cases.

He said in fact the government is now getting all such cases probed by a duly constituted commission to ensure that justice is delivered to the innocent and the guilty are punished under the law.

"Even though it has enough evidence against several Akali leaders and workers, his government would wait for the inquiry commission to submit its report," the chief minister said.

Amarinder said they wanted to go by the book and not take any action without following the due process.

The chief minister hit out at Sukhbir on his 'Jabar Virodhi Lehar' campaign, alleging that the use of force had been a "way of functioning" for the Badal government.

The Congress believes in strictly upholding democratic principles and the rule of law, Amarinder said, adding that Sukhbir and other SAD leaders were spreading "disinformation" to save their own skin.

With their "misdeeds getting exposed", one by one, before the people of Punjab, they are now resorting to all kinds of "cheap" tactics, out of "sheer desperation" to divert public attention, the chief minister claimed.

SAD leaders had "victimised" people in all possible ways in the party's 10 years of misrule in the state. Now they are trying hard to wriggle out of the porbes against them by different commissions, Amarinder alleged.

The Congress leader warned Sukhbir to "stop indulging in low-level politics for his own interests.

The people of Punjab rejected the Akalis in the elections and are tired of their game plans. They will not think twice before throwing them out of the state's polity for good, if the SAD continues with such behavior, he claimed.

The chief minister has directed police and administrative officials to work without fear and assured them of the government's full support.