BJP minister accuses SAD MLAs for attack on brother

Anil Joshi stated that he would apprise Modi, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh about the 'lawlessness' created by Akalis in the state

Punjab cabinet minister Anil Joshi today accused SAD MLAs for attacking his younger brother outside the SDM office at Tarn Taran area.

"The Akalis are doing goondaism, terrorising and threatening BJP activists in the state," Joshi alleged at a media conference here.

Lashing out at alliance partners Akalis in the state, the BJP minister said, "If the family members of a cabinet minister are not safe in the state, what could be the plight of common men?"

"If tomorrow anything happens to me or my family, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and two others will be accountable for it," he said while seeking a judicial probe or an inquiry by any independent agency into yesterday's incident.

Joshi stated that he would apprise Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national President Amit Shah and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh about the "lawlessness" created by Akalis in the state and to "take note" of the incident.

"I don't have any greed to be a minister...I am ready to step down...Infact all the four ministers and four Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS) from BJP quota have no greed for power," he said, adding that another SAD MLA is also behind it the attack on his brother.

Though the minister's brother Rakesh Kumar Raja has not mentioned the names of MLAs in his complaint, Joshi alleged that the attack was "pre-planned" by the Akalis.

The disgruntled leader who was accompanied by his brother also showed a video of the incident while claiming that Raja despite of "not uttering a single word" was attacked by around 10 Akali activists.