President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday courted arrestalong with the party's core committee members to register their protest againstthe 'conspiracy' of the Congress government in Punjab to implicate party leaderBikram Singh Majithia in a 'false' drugs case.
Despite heavy security outside, senior leaders of theparty overcame barricading to march to the Chief Minister's residence andcourted arrest in front of it.
The SAD chief said that state Congress President NavjotSidhu was resorting to extra constitutional measures by directing the stategovernment to register a false case against Majithia.
"The Chief Minister and the Home Minister have notonly agreed to this demand in order to divert attention from the failures ofthe Congress government, but have also directed the DGP to register the falsecase. The SAD is very clear in this matter. All such persons will be prosecutedonce the SAD-BSP alliance government is formed in the state next year. We willalso set up a commission to probe these false cases, including those registeredagainst Akali workers," Badal said.
Badal also made it clear that SAD will not be intimidatedby such tactics.
"We will continue to raise our voice in favour ofthe people and demand fulfilment of the promises made to them by theCongress," the SAD leader said.
He also said that the party would simultaneously continueto fight the repression and acts of vendetta against senior party men andworkers alike.
Announcing that the senior party leadership had come tocourt arrest, Badal said, "The Congress government has constantlypoliticised both the sensitive issues of sacrilege and drugs. It is with thisin mind that its top leaders and the DGP met to conspire and frame me in afalse case. The conspiracy was, however, exposed by SAD. Now another conspiracyhas been hatched to implicate Bikram Majithia in a false drugs case. We willexpose this conspiracy also."
Meanwhile, before proceeding towards the CM's residence,both Badal and Majithia talked to contractual teacher Sohan Singh who hadclimbed atop a BSNL tower near the MLA flats.
They were apprised that the contractual teacher hadclimbed the tower in protest against the reduction in the salaries ofcontractual teachers, and the government's failure to regularise theirservices.