DW BUREAU / Jalandhar

The electoral prospects of AAP in Punjab have taken a serious beating on the eve of Shahkot bypoll, with major leaders in the Doaba region, Col CD Kamboj and HS Walia deserted the party, AAP Adampur candidate Hans Raj Rana to join Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), latest in the league on Monday.

After joining the SAD, Rana accused the AAP leadership for ignoring the basic party cadre which paved way for the establishment in the state in a big and charming way as the people were fed up with the misdeeds of both the Congress and the SAD-BJP alliance.

He said that the hard working leaders of the AAP in the state were sidelined and leaders of Delhi who were indulged in corruption were given weight-age.

The SAD president while welcoming Hansraj Rana into the Akali fold, said his entry would strengthen the party at the grass root level in the Doaba region. He said Rana had decided to give unconditional support to the SAD and would be given due recognition in the party.

Interacting with the media, Badal demanded registration of criminal cases against the family of Paramjit Singh Sarna, advisor to the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh for religious for willfully discharging industrial effluents from their sugar mill into the Beas river. He said that it was a shame that the Congress government had not taken any action in the matter till now. “The central Environment ministry should send a fact finding team immediately to access the damage caused to the ecology and marine life. A separate assessment of the damage this polluted water could do to humans should also be done,” he added.

(editor@dailyworld.in)