Bikram Singh Majithia is the brother of former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal. (ARCHIVE)
Chandigarh:
Less than two months after Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) resigned from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the central government withdrew “Z-Plus” category security coverage for party leader Bikram Singh. Majithia.
A former minister embroiled in controversy, Majithia is seen as an easy target given the attacks on the BJP by Akali Dal leaders, party sources said. Akali Dal’s boss, Sukhbir Singh Badal, had recently criticized the center for its treatment of minorities.
Attacking the NDA government, SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said: “The SAD condemns the arbitrary, dictatorial and politically motivated decision of the BJP-led central government to withdraw the Z-plus category security coverage from the Former Akali Minister and Senior Leader Bikram. Singh Majithia “.
In a statement, Mr. Cheema, also a senior SAD leader, alleged that Mr. Majithia’s security cover had been withdrawn because the party had “strongly supported the farmers” against the agricultural laws of the center and the denial of official language status to Punjabi in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said SAD had voted against the centre’s farm laws in parliament in addition to resigning from the union cabinet and the NDA over the issue.
“It is clear that Mr. Majithia is the victim of political revenge. The SAD, however, will not be intimidated by such tactics and will continue to support farmers and Punjabis against central laws, as well as any other issue that undermines the structure is either intrinsically anti-Punjab, “he said.
Mr. Majithia is the brother of the former Union Minister and SAD Bathinda MP, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, and the brother-in-law of Sukhbir Singh Badal.
“We have already seen how a senior leader of the left and winner of Shaurya Chakra, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, was assassinated in Tarn Taran recently after his security cover was removed,” Cheema said.
Warning that the Union Ministry of the Interior would be responsible for any incidents after the withdrawal of security cover from Majithia, the SAD leader said: “This type of action, which is designed to intimidate opponents, is a new minimal in Indian politics. “
He said that while security coverage of Majithia, which has often been targeted by anti-national elements, has been withdrawn, the central government has granted Y-plus category security to film actor Kangana Ranaut.
“Security should not be given as whims and fantasies to people who sing the melody of the government. It is incumbent on the Ministry of the Interior to explain why the security coverage of Mr. Majithia was suddenly withdrawn after the SAD confronted the Center in support from the farming community, “he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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