Chandigarh, Aug 13 (PTI) The BJP on Sunday accused the AAP government in Punjab of pasting stickers on memorial stones erected by the Centre in the memory of martyrs, calling it "downright shameful and despicable".

Sunil Jakhar, the chief of the BJP's Punjab unit, also accused the state government of trying to undermine the memory of martyrs for petty political gains.

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"These stones were put up as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to perpetuate the memory of our real-life heroes among all citizens as part of the ambitious 'Meri Maati, Mera Desh' programme," Jakhar said, adding that the AAP has "stooped so low that now it cannot even spare our martyr sons and daughters".

Terming it as yet another avoidable attempt by the Punjab government to target a centrally-sponsored programme, Jakhar said earlier too, the AAP dispensation "literally forced to shut down" the National Health Mission by "diverting central funds in the name of Aam Aadmi clinics".

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"Acts like these show the true vile face of AAP leaders, who otherwise boast of creating a Punjab of Shaheed-e-Aazam Bhagat Singh's dreams and yet cannot spare the memory stones of martyrs who laid down their lives for the motherland," Jakhar said.

He further said that playing politics over the martyrs' memorial stones is condemnable.

Pointing out that martyrs are society's role models and the Union government has endeavoured to preserve their memory as part of 'Meri Maati, Mera Desh' programme so that youngsters can take a lead from their lives, Jakhar said pasting stickers on the memorials is the most disgraceful and yet another low attempt to garner publicity.

Reminding Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of his duty to respect national heroes, Jakhar asked him to stop his party cadre from indulging in these "low-grade acts".

"The chief minister is known to splurge crores of public money for his own branding even outside the state and the urge of seeing yourself everywhere seems to have gotten the better of AAP leaders who are now trying to use our martyrs for their political ends," Jakhar said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)