Chandigarh, July 21 (IANS): Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was "bullying and pressurising" electorate in Punjab to support his Aam Aadmi Party.

It alleged that Kejriwal was "squandering the hard earned money of the people of Delhi on self promotion in Punjab" in the run-up to the February 2017 assembly elections in the state.

Punjab Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema said the coercive methods adopted by Kejriwal in the form of "malicious tele-calls levelling most vicious and malevolent allegations against the SAD-BJP government in Punjab and giving a veiled threat to masses amounted to a total disregard for democratic norms which deserved condemnation by civil society".

He urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to take immediate notice of the "unscrupulous practice" by Kejriwal, who is also the AAP convener.

He said that Kejriwal was using "threatening" language to browbeat the people of Punjab to support the AAP.

"Kejriwal is squandering the hard-earned money of the people of Delhi on self-promotion in Punjab. It is really a matter of grave concern that the AAP leader has been so overcome by the lust of acquiring power in Punjab that he has been frittering away resources which should be utilized for development of Delhi," Cheema said.