Congress alleges vendetta against workers in Punjab

Punjab's opposition Congress Wednesday urged Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal to intervene in the "political vendetta" allegedly unleashed on its workers by activists of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal.

In a letter to the chief minister here, Punjab Congress president Pratap Singh Bajwa said that Congress workers were being brutally assaulted by Akali Dal workers in the aftermath of the April 30 parliamentary elections in the state.

"Elections are a democratic exercise in which the will of the people is always respected. However, the Shiromani Akali Dal has once again failed to abide by the democratic ethos and as had been the case earlier also, has started unleashing politics of vendetta against the Congress workers and activists within no time of the polling having been over," Bajwa said in the letter.

"Congress workers have been brutally assaulted at several places in the state in the aftermath of the elections with violent incidents having been reported from Rampura Phul in Bathinda, Gurdaspur, Moga and Khadoor Sahib area.

"As chief minister, it is your primary duty to maintain law and order and cannot hide yourself under the logic of the home department being with the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is your son," Bajwa said.

Warning the Akali Dal leadership of reaction from Congress workers, he said: "The Congress would not tolerate such goondaism being indulged in by the Akali activists under the patronage of the state police. Peaceful protest is our constitutional right. Congress workers cannot be terrorised and demoralized through these deplorable actions."

All 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab went for a single phase poll April 30.