AAP, SAD spreading ‘myths’ about their performance in rural elections: Warring

Warring and his party colleagues Durlabh Sidhu and Hardeep Singh Kingra presented detailed figures to drive a point home as to how the AAP was trying to “bask in stolen glory,” while the SAD was “just lying about the figures”.

“Former Patiala SSP Varun Sharma exposed AAP’s game plan by directing his juniors to prevent opposition candidates from filing their nominations so that there was no need to reject their papers. The police and election officials actually followed Sharma’s guidelines, which obviously were issued by the AAP government,” Warring alleged.

“Discussing the results,” the PPCC chief said, “though the AAP claimed to have won 220 of the 347 zila parishad seats, it actually won 136 through the electoral process. Even those were manipulated by abuse of power. In the additional 84 seats, which the AAP claimed to have won, there were boycotts in 18 seats, while in 11, it won unopposed thanks to Varun Sharma’s copybook. In five seats, papers were torn, and in 32 other seats, papers were arbitrarily rejected.”

Warring claimed that the AAP won 136 zila parishad seats, the Congress 62, the SAD 46, the BJP seven and others eleven.

Similarly, discussing the block samiti results, the PCC president sought to expose the AAP’s claims of winning 1,592 seats, stating: “The ruling party actually won 838 through the electoral process, and the rest of the seats it won by abuse and intimidation.”

Warring said, “There were boycotts in 149 seats, while 212 seats were won unopposed as the candidates were not allowed to file nomination papers in accordance with SSP Sharma’s guidebook. In 328 seats, papers were rejected, and in 74 seats, results were forcibly declared in favour of the ruling party.”

“Actually, there was not much difference between the AAP and the Congress, as against 838 actual seats won by the AAP, the Congress won 603 seats against all odds,” he said, adding: “The SAD was far behind with just 420 seats and the BJP got only 66.”

Warring also ridiculed SAD leaders’ claim that the rural polls revived the party and it stood second ahead of the Congress.

Asked about former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s praising SAD chief Sukhbir Badal, while being highly critical towards the latter’s father Parkash Singh Badal, Warring wondered how Sukhbir could “tolerate the insult of his father in trade off for his own praise”.

About Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar’s claim that “I could not pay Rs 350 crore to be the chief minister,” the PCC president said, “Jakhar’s BJP colleague Amarinder Singh has already refuted such allegations, meaning one of them is wrong. Both cannot be correct at the same time.”