I don’t need BJP aid, says Badal

However, the former CM said that ‘‘the Akali-BJP relationship is not a business. It will not crumble under any threats’’ when asked if he was facing pressure to pull out of the NDA Government in the wake of the BJP’s delayed reaction.

Badal said he expects ‘‘the Centre to do whatever it can legally in Punjab’’ against the Amarinder government. The Centre should know that ‘‘Punjab is no longer a part of democratic India and jungle raj is prevailing in the state under Congress rule’’, he added. He also claimed that the government so far has not been able to gather any evidence to prove the charges of corruption levelled against him.

‘‘I dare Amarinder to prove that I have taken even a single penny as bribe while I was chief minister,’’ Badal said and reiterated his demand for a judicial inquiry into all the allegations against him. ‘‘How can I trust the Vigilance when it is a wing of the government?’’

The former CM also said the government was picking up people and forcing them to sign affidavits to falsely implicate him and his family members. ‘‘This is illegal since no government can order raids only on the basis of affidavits.’’

The Akali leader said the NDA team would visit Punjab only after the June p16 function at the Akal Takht where the two factions of the Akali Dal would be reunited.

Badal’s son and MP Sukhbir Singh, whose house in Chandigarh was raided recently, said he did not need to apologise to anyone for owning a palatial house. ‘‘It is a guesthouse and whether I install 10 ACs or 30 ACs there after paying tax is nobody’s business,’’ he said.