No need of people like Chhotepur in SAD: Sukhbir

Amritsar, Aug 27: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said it will not welcome leaders like Sucha Singh Chhotepur, who has been removed as AAP's Punjab convener, into party fold.

"The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has lots of committed workers and a dedicated cadre so there is no need for people like Sucha Singh Chhotepur to be brought into the SAD fold," SAD President and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said while interacting with the media here.

Attacking AAP, he said that this party is "on the verge of getting finished" and only the "last rites" needed to be performed, looking at its present state of affairs.

Describing AAP as a "bunch of no do-gooders" who are only interested in "money minting", he said that its "hastily assembled conglomerate" of so-called leaders managed to "lure" people of Punjab with their "guiles" during the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 but now the people have seen their "real faces" and won't fall into their "trap" anymore.

Taking a jibe at Punjab Congress President Capt Amarinder Singh, Sukhbir said he didn't "care to show his face" to the people of Amritsar, despite being the elected representative from here.

He alleged that both AAP and Congress did not care either for the interests of Punjab or the rich cultural and religious traditions of the state.

Coming to the development of Amritsar, he said the city underwent a transition for the better during the previous nine years era of SAD-BJP government with Rs 3,000 crore being spent on various progress oriented infrastructural projects.

Elaborating his plans to turn Amritsar into a hub of Tourism, Sulhbir said that the beautification of area around Golden Temple, besides the current beautification of Shri Durgiana Mandir and the focus on Rs 250 crore project of giving facelift to the Gobindgarh Fort, would further strengthen Amritsar's status amongst the tourist destinations.

He said that the state government would hold talks with the Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to hold a summit in Amritsar for hosting more than 30 ministers of various countries in December.

The Deputy Chief Minister also met officials of various departments and took stock of the various development centric projects concerning the city.

PTI