Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau
Sukhbir Badal slams AAP, calls crackdown on Akalis ‘Worse Than Emergency’
Babushahi Bureau
Mohali (Punjab), July 2, 2025: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday launched a fierce attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, calling the ongoing crackdown on Akali leaders and workers “worse than the dark days of the Emergency.”
Speaking after his detention by police in Mohali, Badal accused the AAP government, led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, of unleashing political vendetta and suppressing democratic rights.
Badal alleged that the Punjab police, acting on instructions from Kejriwal, stopped him and SAD workers from paying obeisance at Gurdwara Sri Amb Sahib in Mohali. Calling the act a form of “sacrilege,” he claimed that for the first time in Punjab’s history, peaceful devotees were prevented from entering a sacred Sikh shrine. “Kejriwal has committed a grave sin by using the police to stop Sikhs from visiting their Gurdhams. This is not just vendetta—it is sacrilege,” he said.
He further described the registration of a case against senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia as a politically motivated move aimed at deflecting public attention from AAP’s alleged failures in Punjab. Badal termed the case a “symptom of Kejriwal’s hatred for Punjabis” and accused the AAP of orchestrating state-wide arrests and preventive detentions to muzzle the voice of the Akali Dal.
The SAD chief also pointed out that Akali leaders from the Majha region were stopped from crossing the Beas bridge, with heavy police barricading across the state to prevent workers from reaching Mohali.
He claimed hundreds of party workers and senior leaders were detained at their homes. “Everything is being run by Kejriwal from Delhi. This is not governance—it’s dictatorship,” he said, adding that such repression resembles the worst excesses of the Emergency era.
Sukhbir Badal called the situation a “broad daylight murder of democracy, civil liberties, and human rights,” and accused Kejriwal of looting Punjab’s resources while pushing the state into financial ruin. “The AAP has made Punjab bankrupt. Their loot continues unchecked, and repression is their last resort,” he said.
He further warned that the SAD would intensify its statewide campaign against the AAP government, announcing a major protest in Ludhiana on July 15 against the alleged attempt to grab 40,000 acres of land.
“We accept Kejriwal’s challenge. We will fight this to the finish,” Badal declared, urging Punjabis to unite against what he called a “communal and dictatorial regime imposed by outsiders.”
Badal concluded by reaffirming his party’s commitment to protecting democratic values, Sikh sentiments, and Punjab’s interests. He called on all Punjabis to stand together to free the state from the “misrule and repression” of the AAP government.