A day after several of its top leaders including MLAs and MPs were booked for blocking traffic, the opposition party SAD today accused the Amarinder Singh led regime of hatching a conspiracy to suppress the voice of its opponents.
"We are not bothered (about FIRs). We accept the challenge of Captain Sahib (Amarinder Singh). We are here and send the police," said Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal while addressing media here.
If they have the courage then come and arrest us, he said.
"Akalis are not afraid of FIRs. Akali Dal is a party whose leaders had faced jail term without even registration of cases. You are trying to scare us with FIRs," the SAD chief said attacking the state government.
A large number of Akali leaders including Sukhbir Badal, former minister Bikram Majithia, MPs Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Balwinder Bhunder, MLAs Ajit Kohar, N K Sharma, Sharanjit Dhillon among others were booked under the relevant sections of the IPC and National Highways Act at different places.
Akalis had blocked traffic at different places in Punjab as part of their protest against alleged "false" cases registered against their workers. They alleged that the cases were lodged at the instance of the Congress dispensation.
Earlier, the core committee of the SAD met here to discuss the issue of cases registered against workers.
Sukhbir Badal, flanked by MPs Ranjit Singh Brahmpura and Balwinder Bhunder, said the Akali Dal will file a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking CBI probe into the "false" cases registered against Akali leaders and workers.
We will name Congress leaders and police officials in the petition who unleashed excesses on Akalis, the SAD chief said.
"Congress hatched a criminal conspiracy to damage the democratic system with the use of government machinery and which was aimed to suppress the voice of opposition," he alleged.
He said a delegation of Akali Dal will also meet Punjab Governor to apprise him of the alleged criminal conspiracy of Congress leaders and police officials in registering false cases against Akali workers.
"We have sufficient proofs of Congress leaders and police officials who attacked Akalis," he said.
Lashing out at the Congress regime, SAD chief accused the state government of not allowing Akali candidates to file nominations and trying to hold civic polls "just on paper".
"They were staring at a complete wipe out in municipal polls. They are holding MC elections just on paper...It is the biggest attack on democracy," he said.
They attacked our workers so that our candidates fail to file nominations, he alleged.
They even rejected nomination of our several candidates, he added.
"What is happening is that DGP Punjab and Chief Minister Punjab do not have any power in the state. Congress MLA is the DGP and CM of his assembly constituency," the SAD chief alleged.
Elections to three municipal corporations - Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala and 32 municipal councils and Nagar panchayats will take place on December 17.
Justifying the holding of protest, Sukhbir said Akali Dal had to stage a sit-in against the government as the Congress regime had allegedly resorted to 'gundagardi' (hooliganism) against its opponents.
He said the core committee has decided to engage 10 volunteers from each village and they will raise voice against any excesses unleashed on Akalis.
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