Oust Joshi, SAD tells BJP
Friday, 13/02/2015
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
TARN TARAN: As a Special Investigation Team (SIT) commenced its probe into the February 10 SAD-BJP clash on Thursday, local Akali leaders demand from their alliance partner to expel local bodies minister Anil Joshi.
Showing total unity in their ranks, the Akalis held Joshi responsible for the clash and called upon Punjab BJP president Kamal Sharma to sack the minister from his party. They accused Joshi of “unnecessary interference” in the political setup of Tarn Taran with the “sole aim of promoting his relatives and ensuring that his younger brother Raja Joshi becomes the president of the local municipal council (MC)”.
“Joshi is not only a threat to the SAD-BJP alliance, but also to the Hindu-Sikh unity, hence we call upon the state BJP chief to get rid of him from the party,” stated Bhupinder Singh Khera, ex-president of the local MC, and Manjor Kumar Timma, SAD (urban) president.
Jointly addressing mediapersons in presence of other leaders of their party, the two leaders alleged that Joshi never hesitated to “use force” for promoting his political career. In fact, when he began his political career seven years back, he openly indulged in violence and attacked Akali workers during MC polls, they claimed.
Claiming that the video footage of the clash shown to the media in Chandigarh was “tampered” with, Khera alleged that it was Raja Joshi, who fired the first shot at the Akali leaders. He claimed that one of his party colleagues had to fire in the air from his licenced weapon just to save his life from the BJP activists. “Joshi has been interfering in the politics of Tarn Taran despite having been elected from Amritsar. His sole aim is to ensure that his brother becomes the president of the local MC,” claimed Khera.
The Akalis also accused Joshi of “misusing” his ministerial clout to intimidate government officials. “So for the sake of strengthening the SAD-BJP alliance and Hindu-Sikh unity, the BJP should sack Joshi,” added Khera.
Prominent among others who were present at the press conference included RS Cheema, chief, district Youth Akali Dal (YAD), Sarabjit Singh Lalli and SS Arora.
However, local Akali MLA and chief parliamentary secretary (CPS) Harmeet Singh Sandhu has so far not come out in public to support Khera and company, all of whom are his die hard supporters.
