'Cheap' tactics of Congress hurting Sikh sentiments: Punjab CM

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Friday alleged that the UPA government at the Centre was "hurting" the sentiments of Sikh community by "deliberately" delaying the permission for holding co-opted session of newly elected SGPC.

"Congress was again doing undue interference in religious matters of the Sikhs which was not at all tolerable," he told reporters here.

15 members are co-opted by the elected members of SGPC after Central government gives its nod for it.

Badal alleged that earlier the Congress had delayed the process of election of SGPC by around two years, and now it is not co-opting the newly elected members of SGPC, which is ultimately resulting in the delay in election of new executive of the 'Parliament of the Sikhs'.

"We vehemently oppose these cheap tactics of Congress and will not allow them to interfere in the religious matters of the Sikhs," he said.

Slamming the 'Sanjha Morcha' formed by former state finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and former Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala along with the Left parties, the Chief Minister said the Morcha has no standing amongst the people of Punjab and it would be routed in the coming Assembly elections.

"The fate of Congress and its leaders supporting the morcha in a covert manner would also be the same," he said.

On the possibility of forging electoral ties with some other party besides the BJP, the Chief Minister maintained that SAD would welcome any alliance which aims to defeat the Congress.