The Shiromani Akali Dal, on Saturday, dared the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann to come clean on reports that the ousted Advocated General (AG) Punjab Anmol Ratan Singh Sidhu was forced to resign because he had openly and squarely blamed the Delhi CM and his government for blocking the release of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, a 1993 Delhi bomb blast case convict.

The SAD also took strong exception to the choice of new AG Vinod Ghai to replace the ousted AG even as he was the chief counsel of Dera Sacha Sauda.

The party demanded an independent probe into allegations that the 2015 incidents of sacrilege of Shri Guru Granth Sahib in Punjab were “a part of a deep rooted conspiracy by powerful political forces outside Punjab to destabilise the government led by Parkash Singh Badal and to divide and weaken the Khalsa Panth by sowing seeds of suspicion in its ranks. “The conspiracy , still continuing, is aimed at making the Sikh quom totally leaderless and confused.”

 Senior Akali leader Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal said, “Both the ouster of Anmol Gagan Sidhu following his stand on Bhullar’s release as well as the choice of the Dera Chief Ram Rahim’s counsel as the new AG clearly necessitate a high level and independent probe into allegations that the 2015 sacrilege events during the Badal led government were a part of conspiracy engineered from outside Punjab in order to destabilise Punjab and its Panthic government. SAD demands that this conspiracy to weaken the Sikhs be probed transparently and immediately, “

On Bhullar’s release, Grewal said the ousted AG had informed the court in writing that the Punjab govt had sent five letters to the Kejriwal-led AAP govt in Delhi seeking Bhullar’s release. The then AG had informed the court that the ball on the Sikh prisoner’s release, therefore, was the Kejriwal government’s court.

Grewal also referred to reports which said that Anmol Ratan’s reply to the court  was seen by Kejriwal as a direct indictment of him and his government. The Akali leader also referred to media reports about an “ugly spat” between the Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Raghav Chaddha over replacement of the AG with Kejriwal’s handpicked choice.

Grewal further said the replacement of Sidhu with Vinod Ghai, the main counsel of the sacrilege-accused Dera Sirsa head Ram Rahim “has shocked every Sikh and every right thinking Punjabi.