The advance announcement of tickets for the 2017 Assembly election by AAP would only give rise to factionalism, revolt and infighting in the party and consequently, spell doom for it even before the polls, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said here today.
AAP earlier in the day announced its first list of 19 candidates for the Assembly polls in Punjab.
Talking to reporters here, Sukhbir claimed the declaration would not make any difference to the ruling SAD-BJP combine but would bring to fore AAP's internal factionalism.
He claimed that AAP leaders were openly alleging bias and dictatorial methods in distribution of tickets which made it clear that only those mattered in the party who pandered to Kejriwal's every whim and fancy.
Meanwhile, at Raikot, Sukhbir lashed out at AAP saying its leadership had parted ways with all democratic norms which he claimed was evident from the way tickets were allotted.
He alleged that AAP workers were openly saying that the party had resorted to the most "abhorred" way of "selling" tickets and it should serve as an "eye-opener" for the people.
He described the AAP's Punjab unit as a "ragtag bunch of so-called leaders" assembled hastily from outside the state and alleged that they were "devoid of roots" and did not have any standing among the common people whose cause it so "loudly claimed to champion".
Claiming that AAP leaders had no inkling of the rich and glorious tradition of Punjab, Sukhbir labelled Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal as a person who "did not prove true to anything he said".
He alleged that Kejriwal had first backed the Punjab farmers on the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue but the moment he got back to Delhi, he started supporting the cause of Haryana, thus backstabbing them.
Accusing Kejriwal of "cheating" socialist Anna Hazare and going back on his word of not joining politics, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader said such a person could not be trusted.
Castigating AAP and Congress for "carrying out a nefarious campaign to brand the Punjabi youth as drug addicts", he claimed that both the parties would be "shown their true place" by the people in the Assembly polls and the "partners in crime" in defaming Punjab would be relegated to the position of "being remembered as historical footnotes".
He claimed the "contest" in the upcoming state election would be between the ruling SAD-BJP combine and Congress while AAP was sure to be languishing at the third spot.
He accused Congress of being the "root cause" behind the SYL dispute as the party's Punjab unit chief Amarinder Singh was present when the foundation stone of the project was laid at Kapoori in 1982.
Meanwhile, Sukhbir welcomed the passage of the GST Bill in the Upper House of Parliament and said the new system of taxation would not only spell golden days for industry and commerce but the common people too would get respite from the various existing taxes.
