Bajwa seeks dismissal of the Badal government

Chandigarh, The Punjab Congress President, Mr. Partap Singh Bajwa, today demanded immediate dismissal of the Parkash Singh Badal government on the logic that the Chief Minister had turned senile and did not know what he was speaking and as such, he had no right to continue even for a day longer.

Commenting on his reported statement whereby Mr Badal “advised” the people during his sangat darshan programme at Jagga Ram Tirath in Talwandi Sabo Assembly constituency on Thursday to commit robberies and dacoities to mobilise finances for the development works and he would protect them from the police by not allowing the case to be registered, Mr Bajwa asserted that he had no right to continue in office after making such highly objectionable statement as it did not behove a chief minister to talk to the people in this way.

“I urged the Governor Mr Shivraj Patil to recommend President’s rule as Mr Badal is not fit to be the head of the government as evident from this highly irresponsible and objectionable statement. He should better get himself admitted to hospital for getting treated”, he added.

Referring to his another comment at the same venue about friction even within his own family, the PPCC chief said it was too well known a fact that power struggle had been going on within the Badal family and Mr Badal had been under a lot of pressure. “I fully sympathise with him as it becomes very difficult to resist such pressures from within the family”, he said while pointing out that here was the Chief Minister who could not order the transfer of any officer in the Bathinda Parliamentary constituency without getting a green signal from his daughter-in-law and Union Minister for Food Processing Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal. He said it was a “closely guarded secret too well known to the people”.

He ascribed the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and paralysis in the government to this state of mind of the Chief Minister as he had lost control over his government which was being run on the whims and fancies of his son and the Deputy Chief Minister Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal who too could not overrule his overbearing wife.

He urged the Governor to take a serious note of such of such helplessness of the Chief Minister, especially his objectionable public utterances and take action accordingly.