Chandigarh, Jan 29 (IANS): The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday demanded a probe into the deletion of 10.70 lakh blue cards of beneficiaries under the ‘aata-daal’ scheme which has now been restored by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.

Senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema said that it is shocking that the AAP government has denied food grains given under the scheme to 40 lakh people for two years and has now restored the facility on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections due to deep resentment on this issue at the grassroots.

Asserting that only an independent probe can determine the reasons for denial of this facility to 40 lakh people, Cheema said, “It is clear that people who did not vote for AAP were penalized.”

Cheema said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is responsible for this injustice as he had himself announced that rich persons were availing the scheme while deleting the blue cards of 10.7 lakh families.

He said since the facility has now been restored, the Chief Minister should tell what action had been taken against those responsible for denying this basic facility to the people.