Amritsar:   Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia condemned chief minister Bhagwant Mann for indulging in political event management at Sri Harmandir Sahib, saying “former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh HAD brought the ‘Gutka sahib’ to the stage, but Bhagwant Mann had taken the stage to Sri Harmandir Sahib”.

Asking the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) not to use children as shields for its politics, the former minister said “children were not only made to wait for hours in the heat but even forced to wear yellow turbans to imitate the turban colour of the chief minister”.

Majithia also castigated the chief minister for failing to become a role model for children but using the latter to further his political interests. “The chief minister is on record to have sworn a false oath in the name of his mother that he would quit drinking alcohol. This was proven when soon after taken the oath he was thrown out from a plane in Germany in an inebriated condition while on an official tour. What will children think of such a person who is himself a habitual drunkard and even attended a function at Sri Mastuana Sahib in a drunken state but is making them take a pledge against drugs?” Majithia alleged.

The SAD leader said the chief minister was trying to wash his hands off the protection being given to the drug mafia by his ministers and legislators by going in for a prayer exercise. “Is the drug menace prevalent in schools or in wards and villages?” He asked adding “instead of taking action against the drug kingpins the chief minister has tried to deflect attention from his failures to control the drug menace by resorting to gimmickry”. He also highlighted how the Punjab and Haryana high court had also pulled up the AAP government for failing to prosecute drug traffickers.