Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, The Punjab Congress President, Mr. Partap Singh Bajwa, today asserted that Bharatiya Janata Party’s star campaigner in Haryana, Mr Navjot Singh Sidhu, levelling grave charges of open loot in Punjab by the Parkash Singh Badal government was a serious issue and he had justified the criticism of this government by the opposition in the state.
“Such disparagement of the Badal government by the Congress earlier was being rejected as politically motivated but the BJP is an ally of the Akali Dal in Punjab as well as at the centre. One fails to understand when such serious charges are being hurled by the star campaigner of the alliance partner who has even been provided with a helicopter to campaign in Haryana, how can this alliance be justified. Mr Sidhu has been entrusted with the responsibility of campaigning in Haryana by his party high command”, he said.
Mr Bajwa said that it was clear that Mr Sidhu was articulating the thinking of the BJP high command about the Badal government. He said the situation demanded that the centre should order a CBI inquiry into all the charges of corruption levelled by Mr Sidhu against the Badal government as the same had come from the star campaigner of the party in power at the centre against its own partner and just could not be ignored.
He asserted that the Congress had all along maintained that it was a mafia raj in Punjab and the names of the ruling party leaders had been linked even to smuggling of drugs, what to talk of the sand and liquor mafia. The police had been turned into private militia and there was no chain of command. Mr Sidhu had justified the stand of the Congress against the Badal government.
Mr Bajwa pointed out that Mr Sidhu would not have been nominated as a star campaigner in Haryana in case he had been perceived to have stabbed the election campaign of Mr Jaitley in Amritsar in the Lok Sabha election.
The PPCC chief maintained the fissures between the Akali Dal and the BJP had been deepening for a long time and with the open attack by Mr Sidhu on the Akali Dal government, the situation had taken a new turn as he would not have gone to this extent without the tacit signal from his party bosses. This attack would have to be seen in the context of the attitude adopted by the Narendra Modi government towards Punjab starting with the letter from Mr Jaitley rejecting the demand for a special package. It was clear there was no love lost between the two alliance partner, he added.
Mr. Bajwa also advised to Mr Navjot Sidhu to withdraw his wife from this unholy alliance government and set an example for others to follow and for people to take your sermons about SAD more seriously.
