*SAD legislature wing led by Manpreet S Ayali opposes confidence motion stridently*

(Ayali says his opposition to the motion was a recorded fact and that canards to the opposite effect should not be spread by AAP)

Chandigarh, October 2– The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) legislature wing today strongly opposed the confidence motion in favour of the AAP government asserting it was a farce and that there were other more urgent issues which should have been taken up for discussion.

Speaking on the motion, SAD legislature party leader Manpreet Singh Ayali said there was no demand for a confidence motion and that the same was not even in the agenda of the Business Advisory Committee of the Vidhan Sabha. “Also there was no need to bring a confidence motion when AAP already enjoys an overwhelming majority in the assembly and no legislator has asked it to prove its majority”.

Manpreet Ayali also took the AAP government to task by asking it why it had not made any detail of the so called Operation Lotus public till now. He said even though finance minister Harpal Cheema had submitted a written complaint to the DGP stating that AAP legislators had been offered Rs 25 crore each to switch sides by the BJP, evidence of the same had not been released in the public domain so far. “No one has been named as an accused in the case and no arrests have been made 18 days after registration of a case in the matter”.

Voicing his strong and strident opposition to the confidence motion moved by the government, Mr Ayali said there were other more urgent issues which required the attention of the government and it should not politicize the bribery allegations to derive political benefit in the upcoming Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat assembly elections.

Talking to newsmen outside the assembly,  Mr Ayali said his opposition to the confidence motion was a recorded fact but canards were being spread by AAP that he had supported it. “Nothing can be further from the truth. It is also unfortunate if anything else except my strident opposition has been recorded in the Vidhan Sabha records. I urge Speaker Kultar Singh Sidhwan to correct this falsity  immediately and reflect the correct position in the case in the assembly records”.

 Ayali also said it was unfortunate that public funds had been squandered on a public relations exercise which was done solely to project the leadership of AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal and did not have anything to do with the welfare of Punjabis. He said it was unfortunate that the issues of Punjabis including the crisis in the agriculture sector and farmer suicides, the stoppage of various social welfare schemes, breakdown in law and order, increased drug menace, illegal mining, corruption cases against minister and the Rs 5,000 crore liquor scam had not been taken up for discussion