He was addressing a series of meetings in Alamgir, Sangowal, Jarkhar, Tiba, Jaspal Bangar and Jassal villages, which fall under the newly carved Gill Assembly seat.

Tewari said it was surprising that SAD, which was in power in Punjab, could not find a single candidate from its own cadre and had to compromise with an aging leader like Galib, who was rejected by the Congress for his non-performance.

He said: “The plight of the Akalis is understandable, but their desperation resulted in choosing a leader who was looking for a graceful exit from politics, is quite surprising”.

Warning the Akalis to be aware, Tewari said: “If Galib cannot be sincere to the Congress, he will not be sincere to anybody”.

He further added that despite the Congress elevating him to a status where he was in a position to bargain, Galib had always cheated and deceived them as was revealed by Akali leaders themselves, who had earlier said that Galib was always in league with them.

He said the Akalis had failed the expectations of the people as they were involved in rampant corruption. Lashing out at the ruling SAD, he said there was no development anywhere, the power situation was worse than ever and no section of the society was happy with the present government.

Tewari said: “The SAD government had halted the development of the state initiated during the Congress regime led by Captain Amarinder Singh”.