Former PM Rajiv Gandhi's statue vandalised in Ludhiana

A statue of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was vandalised in Ludhiana on Tuesday by two youths, who Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh claimed, owed allegiance to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

He asked SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal to apologise for the act of his party workers.

The miscreants sprayed red and black paint on the statue at the Salem Tabri area in Ludhiana, police said.


They carried out the act in full public glare and blamed Rajiv Gandhi for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, they said.

Police said the miscreants demanded that statues of Rajiv Gandhi across the country be removed and Bharat Ratna conferred on him be withdrawn.

The statue was later cleaned by some Congress leaders in Ludhiana.

Strongly condemning the incident, the chief minister asked Sukhbir Singh Badal to stop indulging in petty politics and warned him that such acts would backfire on his party in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

"Indulgence in such petty and condemnable actions will not absolve you or your family of the many sins of omission and commission against the Guru Granth Sahib and the Sikh community," Amarinder Singh said in a statement issued here.

"They are well aware of the fact that the Gandhis were never named or implicated in the 1984 riots, yet they continued to drag the family into the case to further their own political agenda," said the chief minister.

He said he would not let the state's hard-earned peace be disturbed by anyone.

Lashing out at the Akalis, the chief minister said in their desperation to win public support, "which the party had completely lost due to its criminal acts of commission and omission in the 10 years of SAD-BJP rule, the Badals and their supporters were stooping to abominable levels".

"Sajjan Kumar had already been sentenced to life term by the court and others involved in the perpetration of the riots would also face legal action," Amarinder Singh added.

The SAD has stepped up attack on the Gandhi family after the conviction of Sajjan Kumar.

On Saturday, the party had demanded that a special sitting of the Punjab Assembly be convened to pass a resolution for revocation of Rajiv Gandhi's Bharat Ratna.