Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has accused the Shiromani Akali Dal of failing to raise issues of the state in Parliament. Presiding over a state-level function organized to mark the 'Rakhhad Punia' festival on Monday, he said the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which claims to be sectarian and pro-Punjab, has never raised issues related to Punjab in Parliament. Mann said in December 2018, as a Lok Sabha member from Sangrur, he had appealed to the then Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to pay tributes to the sons of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh guru, on his martyrdom day. 

The Chief Minister said that the then Lok Sabha Speaker had agreed and for the first time in the history of Parliament, tributes were paid to the 'Sahibzadas' on their martyrdom day. However, Mann said that despite claiming to be Panthic and pro-Punjab, the Akali Dal never made any effort to pay tribute to the 'Sahibzadas' in Parliament. He also criticized the BJP and said that the party should introspect on its governments in states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

"We will continue to strive for the development of Punjab"

Addressing a separate gathering on the occasion, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said he would never compromise on the principles of the 'Khalsa Panth' and would always strive for the development of Punjab. Urging the Panth to identify the "traitors" in their midst, the SAD president said, "These people are working in connivance with agencies that want to weaken the SAD and Sikh institutions." Urging the entire community to recognize the threat from within and outside, Badal said the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) was split and a separate Gurdwara Committee was formed for Haryana as part of a well-planned conspiracy.

"17 incidents of sacrilege during AAP's tenure" 

Badal alleged, "Now we have also seen how the Sangh and BJP have taken over the Sri Hazur Sahib Committee and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. If we do not stop this attack on our institutions, we ourselves will be responsible for it." The SAD president said that 17 incidents of sacrilege have taken place during the tenure of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, but Bhagwant Mann never raised his voice against them and the government has also failed to catch the culprits behind these heinous acts. 

Badal also said that Punjab has gone down in all areas during the last seven and a half years of Congress and AAP rule. He said, "Both Congress and AAP made big promises but failed to waive farmers' loans or make the state drug-free."