Chandigarh: Amid the tussle between Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu And Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Sidhu slams Kejriwal and calls him “masquerader.” He also challenged him to a debate in their escalating war of words ahead of the Punjab election early next year.
In a sharp tweet punctuated with exclamation marks, Mr Sidhu accused the Delhi Chief Minister of colluding with the Badals of Akali Dal and also targeted him over the controversial farm laws recently scrapped by the Centre.
“Bhagwant (Mann) is not the CM who is running Liquor Mafia with Badals Blacklisted MLA Deep Malhotra … He was not the one who notified Black Farm Law in Delhi!! Who is allowing Badals buses on the lucrative routes to Delhi Airport? Come debate with me masquerader!!” – Mr Sidhu wrote.
The Congress leader and Arvind Kejriwal, once believed to have discussed Mr Sidhu joining the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have been baiting each other relentlessly in the past few weeks.
For the ruling Congress, which has been battling infighting in Punjab for more than a year, AAP has emerged as a strong challenger in the upcoming polls.
Arvind Kejriwal has been visiting Punjab frequently to amp up his party’s campaign, and in each visit, he has targeted the Congress government and Navjot Sidhu. Last week, he described the Congress government in Punjab as the “most corrupt and hypocritical” in the history of the state.
On Saturday, Mr Sidhu called Arvind Kejriwal a political tourist and a “liar” who has surfaced with “fake promises” just ahead of assembly elections in the state. At a public meeting, Mr Sidhu dared Mr Kejriwal to face him in a debate on employment, claiming he had promised eight lakh jobs in Delhi but gave only 440.
“Come and sit (with me), wherever in Punjab. Even call me in Delhi. Will sit at your home, bring TV channels also. If Sidhu gets defeated, then (I) will leave politics,” said Mr Sidhu.
He accused Mr Kejriwal of privatising liquor in Delhi and slammed his promise of providing ₹ 1,000 a month to women, questioning whether he was doing so for women in Delhi, where he heads the AAP government.
Mr Sidhu also took on Mr Kejriwal over his allegation that the Congress government ran an illegal sand mining scam worth ₹ 20,000 crore in the state.
“Show me any state which generates more than ₹ 3,000 crore from sand mining. I tell you, Kejriwal! You know nothing about Punjab. You are a political tourist and liar who comes here after four and half years with fake promises. Why did you not come in the last four and half years,” Mr Sidhu retorted.
Earlier, Mr Sidhu had used words like “fraud” and had remarked that even a chameleon does not change as many colours as the AAP leader does.
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