Will defeat conspiracies to weaken SAD: Harsimrat Badal

New Delhi, Jan 01: Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Sunday said women of Punjab would repose their faith in her party which has "always safeguarded" their aspirations and defeat the "conspiracies to weaken" it.

Addressing a gathering of women in the border belt area, she asserted that conspiracies to weaken the SAD were nothing new and were always done ahead of elections in Punjab.

"You have today proven that when women decide to take a stand no one can come in the way. It is now clear that just like West Bengal, where women played a big role in Mamata Banerjee's victory, the women of Punjab will also be instrumental in the victory of the SAD-BSP alliance in the forthcoming assembly elections," Badal said.

"In 2012, you witnessed the formation of the People's Party of Punjab (PPP) which was dissolved after the polls and became a part of the Congress party," the former union minister said.

Now again, the Congress and the BJP were trying their best to target the SAD, she alleged.

"The Congress has politicised the sacrilege issue for five years. It is now refusing to take action in the case of recent sacrilege incidents committed at the Sri Darbar Sahib. The BJP is directly interfering in the internal matters of the Sikh community," Ms Badal said.

She alleged that Congressmen had committed the "biggest sacrilege" when they joined hands with Amarinder Singh to take a false oath on the eve of the 2017 elections.

The BJP had used former Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee president Manjinder Singh Sirsa to take over control of the Sikh institution, Badal claimed.

(PTI)