The Shiromani Akali Dal Tuesday accused the AAP of indulging in "doublespeak" over the Uniform Civil Code issue and insisted that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann ask his party's national convener Arvind Kejriwal to clear his stand on the matter.
The Punjab opposition party's remarks came after Mann targeted the BJP over a Uniform Civil Code, accusing it of raking up religion whenever elections are near.
Last week, the Aam Aadmi Party extended its "in-principle support" to a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) but said it should be brought in with a consensus after extensive consultations with stakeholders.
"The AAP supports UCC in principle. Article 44 (of the Constitution) also supports it," the AAP's national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak had said.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema, in a statement on Tuesday, said, "It is shocking that AAP wants to vote in favour of UCC in the Rajya Sabha even as Bhagwant Mann is befooling Punjabis by stating that the party is against it in Punjab."
Calling for an end to this "doublespeak", he said, "The AAP had earlier adopted the same deception on the issue of Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal."
"(Sandeep) Pathak articulated the party's stand on the national level by asserting that AAP was in favour of UCC in principle. This means the party was gearing up to vote in favour of UCC once it is taken up for approval in the Rajya Sabha. The Punjab chief minister's statement against UCC has no meaning in this context," the SAD leader said.
Cheema said in case the chief minister was "not trying to deceive" Punjabis, he should ask Kejriwal to direct the party's Rajya Sabha member to take back his statement on UCC and reflect the same stand as Mann.
-With PTI Input
