Chandigarh: Ruling Shiromani Akali Dal on Sunday dubbed the attack on a delegation led by Punjab's NRI affairs minister Tota Singh in New York as as act of "frustration" by some "vested interests".
The opposition Congress, however, latched onto the incident to hit out at the state government saying it was a "manifestation of the anger that NRI Punjabis particularly the Sikhs have against Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his government" for their "hollow promises" and "failure" on all fronts.
Tota Singh and his delegation came under attack in New York as hundreds of Sikhs protesting his visit allegedly threw stones and hurled a shoe at them.
"Such incidents are mere frustration on part of some vested interests who do not want the Akalis to paint a true picture of Punjab abroad," SAD MP and party Secretary General Prem Singh Chandumajra said.
He said the incident is "unfortunate" as Akali leadership was making efforts to ensure that NRIs come and invest in the state. "There are rumours among NRIs that Punjab is in bad shape and it is the duty of Akali Dal to clear the misconception," he said.
"The only objective of SAD is convincing the NRIs to contribute in the overall development of the country," he said, adding that such an incident "will not stop Akalis from moving ahead" to make NRIs aware of "true picture of Punjab that has been maligned by few vested interests".
Reacting to the incident, main opposition Congress said there was growing anger among NRIs of Punjabi origin against the Akali-BJP Government. Punjab Congress President Pratap Singh Bajwa said, "This is manifestation of the anger that NRI Punjabis, particularly the Sikhs have against Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his government".
"The NRIs have shown mirror to the SAD-BJP Government that they cannot take the non-resident community for granted by making hollow promises to them every time," Bajwa asserted.
Ruling SAD and opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are trying to woo Punjabi diaspora as they feel that the community can play a significant role in 2017 assembly polls in Punjab.
Delegations of Akalis led by ministers are touring various countries where sizeable number of Punjabis are settled. Soon former chief minister and Congress' Amritsar MP Amarinder Singh too is expected to visit a few countries, including the UK, the US and Canada.
At New York, Tota Singh and his delegation came under attack as hundreds of Sikhs protesting his visit allegedly threw stones and hurled a shoe at them, following which the police took two youths into custody.
Tota Singh and other Akali leaders were scheduled to address a meeting at Richmond Hill in the Queens borough yesterday when the incident took place.
"Had there not been heavy police presence, the Akalis would have been thrashed black and blue because people are very angry against them," Bajwa said.
The Congress leader also said that Badal must understand "that his game is over as now even the NRIs are up in arms against them". He also said that people in Punjab are fed up with the SAD-BJP Government's "failure on all fronts".
"The SAD-BJP government may have been holding NRI Sammelans in the past to woo the NRIs, but the non-resident community feels cheated by the hollow promises made to them. "They (Akalis) are now dealing with second and third generation of the Punjabi NRI community settled abroad, who are very well educated and economically sound and cannot be fooled anymore. The Akalis cannot take them for a ride anymore," he said.
However, Chandumajra said that Parkash Singh Badal government in its over seven years of rule had done a lot for the NRIs, including opening of special police stations for them.
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