Chandigarh: Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing both of “conspiring” to return to power in Punjab through an “unprincipled alliance”.The minister said in the past, the SAD-BJP alliance had led to the “betrayal and destruction” of Punjab’s youth, economy, and social fabric.Cheema said the BJP and Akali Dal leaders were “restless and desperate” to regain power in Punjab, constantly hinting at renewing their alliance despite the denials from the SAD chief and the BJP national leaders’ claim that they would contest alone.“It was under the SAD-BJP govt that drugs were deliberately introduced in Punjab, systematically ruining an entire generation — a conspiracy hatched jointly by the SAD and the BJP to destroy Punjab’s youth. Gangster culture was actively nurtured by these very parties,” he alleged.There are speculations of a possible revival of the ties between the SAD and the BJP after Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar, on Sunday, sought an alliance to ensure communal harmony in the state.
