No need of people like Chhotepur in SAD: Sukhbir

Amritsar, Aug 27 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) todaysaid it will not welcome leaders like Sucha Singh Chhotepur,who has been removed as AAP’s Punjab convener, into partyfold. "The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has lots of committedworkers and a dedicated cadre so there is no need for peoplelike Sucha Singh Chhotepur to be brought into the SAD fold,"SAD President and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister SukhbirSingh Badal said while interacting with the media here. Attacking AAP, he said that this party is "on theverge of getting finished" and only the "last rites" needed tobe performed, looking at its present state of affairs. Describing AAP as a "bunch of no do-gooders" who areonly interested in "money minting", he said that its"hastily assembled conglomerate" of so-called leaders managedto "lure" people of Punjab with their "guiles" during the LokSabha polls in 2014 but now the people have seen their "realfaces" and won’t fall into their "trap" anymore. Taking a jibe at Punjab Congress President Capt AmarinderSingh, Sukhbir said he didn’t "care to show his face" to thepeople of Amritsar, despite being the elected representativefrom here. He alleged that both AAP and Congress did not care eitherfor the interests of Punjab or the rich cultural and religioustraditions of the state. Coming to the development of Amritsar, he said the cityunderwent a transition for the better during the previous nineyears era of SAD-BJP government with Rs 3,000 crore beingspent on various progress oriented infrastructural projects. Elaborating his plans to turn Amritsar into a hub ofTourism, Sulhbir said that the beautification of area aroundGolden Temple, besides the current beautification of ShriDurgiana Mandir and the focus on Rs 250 crore project ofgiving facelift to the Gobindgarh Fort, would furtherstrengthen Amritsar’s status amongst the tourist destinations. He said that the state government would hold talks withthe Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to hold asummit in Amritsar for hosting more than 30 ministers ofvarious countries in December. The Deputy Chief Minister also met officials ofvarious departments and took stock of the various developmentcentric projects concerning the city. PTI COR CHS FAR ZMN FARSG