Chandigarh : The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday urged Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit to direct the state government to annul the unconstitutional agreement arrived at with the Delhi government which handed over all its powers to the latter. It also demanded a CBI inquiry into the Patiala clash which it termed a conspiracy to shatter the peace and communal harmony.
A senior SAD delegation, led by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, which met the Governor in the Raj Bhavan, also asked him to seek legal counsel and take appropriate action against Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and his council of ministers for violating the oath of secrecy by signing away control of the state to the Delhi government.
It apprised the Governor that the agreement signed between the Punjab and Delhi governments was against the spirit of federalism.
Asserting that it was for the first time in the history of the country that an elected state had ceded its administration to another state, the SAD delegation urged the Governor to direct the Punjab government not to allow the Delhi government to interfere in its internal affairs.
It said no official file should be sent to Delhi for perusal, saying Punjabis would never tolerate such subjugation by the Delhi government.
Badal apprised the Governor about the recent clash in Patiala and how the Chief Minister refused to take any action to avert it despite having been given notice in advance.
Asserting that there seemed to be a deep-rooted conspiracy to divert attention from the failures of the AAP government through such actions, Badal said it was even more disconcerting that instead of taking action against the main conspirators, the AAP government tried to turn it into a fight between two political parties.
The delegation said even now, no effort was being made to book the miscreants and innocents were being harassed.
It said only a CBI inquiry or a probe by a sitting judge of the high court could unmask the conspiracy and ensure justice in the case.
–IANS