Upping its ante against Leader of the Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who has been summoned in a drug smuggling case of 2015 by a local court, a delegation of the Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP on Wednesday asked the Punjab Governor to immediately remove him from his position in the Punjab Assembly.
“Mr. Khaira had been summoned as an accused in a drugs case by a court in Fazilka. We approached V.P. Singh Badnore, Governor of Punjab, urging him to act expeditiously in this matter as this was an extraordinary case in which the Leader of the Opposition had been made an accused after submission of evidence against him,” SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal told reporters here, after submitting a demand charter to the Governor.
Mr. Badal said that it appeared that the ruling Congress government was getting ready to play a “friendly game” with Mr. Khaira. “Despite a court order directing the government to file a challan in the case, the government has been delaying the process,” he alleged.
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The Punjab and Haryana High Court had last week dismissed the petition filed by Mr. Khaira challenging his trial as an accused by the Fazilka court. Following the court’s verdict, the Congress and the SAD-BJP had been targeting the Aam Aadmi Party, accusing its leadership of double standards on the drugs issue.
The SAD-BJP delegation, through its demand charter, also urged the Governor to direct the Congress government to immediately implement the ₹90,000-crore loan waiver as promised by it in its election manifesto for the Assembly elections earlier this year.