Congress today accused Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal of "disbursing money" to the people of Dhuri constituency under the garb of his 'sangat darshan' programme in view of the bypolls scheduled in the seat on April 11.
"(Parkash Singh) Badal ignored this constituency all these years but started disbursing money under his sangat darshan programme once the (Dhuri) seat fell vacant after Congress MLA Arvind Khanna resigned from the Assembly. This behaviour was not befitting to his high office," senior Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal alleged.
She alleged that Badal was blackmailing the people in the area, saying that if they wanted development, they should vote for Akali Dal candidate Gobind Singh Longowal.
"Badal is not the chief minister of the Akalis only but of the entire state. As such, this style of campaigning tantamount to blackmailing and is indirectly coercive in nature and against the norms of democratic functioning," she said while addressing a series of public meetings today in favour of party candidate Simar Partap Singh Barnala.
"A CM cannot discriminate against a region just because the people there did not vote for the ruling party. This reflected vindictiveness and the people should give a befitting reply to such tactics," she said.
Bhattal also charged Badal with misleading voters by showing "mirage of development" as the state was "bankrupt" and even the NDA had "failed" to come to Badal's rescue.
