If survey is held, Capt Amarinder will emerge as the most hated man: Akali Dal

Sukhbir Singh Badal, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, alleged that not only his party, but even the people and the Congress MLAs were against the Punjab chief minister

Chandigarh (Punjab): If a survey is held today, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh will be voted as the most hated man in Punjab, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal said. Speaking to the media, he said, "Captain Amarinder will lose his election deposit in the upcoming polls. If you conduct a poll on the most hated man in Punjab, the result will be Captain Amarinder Singh. Not only us, but people and the Congress MLAs are also against him."

Speaking about the SAD stitching and alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Saturday, he said, "The BSP and Shiromani Akali Dal have the same ideology. When we had an alliance in 1996, we had a clean sweep. It will happen this time too," he said.

Reacting sharply to Badal's comment, Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said the SAD-BSP alliance is an opportunist alliance. "Tell Sukhbir Singh Badal to contest from Patiala if he thinks so. He should think about how many MLAs does his party have in Punjab today...Mere words will not serve any purpose. He will know the reality if he goes to the field...This is an opportunist alliance," Sidhu told the media. On Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's allegation that Captain Amarinder had a secret pact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sidhu said, "Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi Government purchased oximeters at exorbitant prices as compared to Corona Fateh Kits in Punjab. Bulk purchase is always based on wholesale prices but the Delhi government looted the public exchequer."

On Saturday, the SAD and the BSP, in a joint press conference, had announced that of the 117 seats in the Punjab Assembly, the BSP will contest on 20 and SAD will contest the remaining 97 seats. In 1996 both BSP and SAD jointly fought the Lok Sabha polls and emerged victorious on 11 of 13 seats. The alliance has been formed at a time when the Congress is facing a crisis over factionalism. The SAD had pulled out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in September last year over the farm bills with the resignation of Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the post of Union Minister of Food Processing Industries. The party has been looking for an alliance partner to contest the upcoming Assembly election.

On June 5, SAD president Badal had said his party is open for pre-poll alliance with parties other than the Congress, BJP and AAP. Badal. The Assembly elections in Punjab are scheduled to take place next year.

With inputs from agencies