Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
* Demands white paper on utilisation of 850 crores released by UPA for water logging
Khadoor Sahib/Chandigarh, The Punjab Congress President, Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, today lambasted the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, for entering into alliances with other political parties purely to protect his vested business interests rather than on any ideological basis as evident from Haryana. He announced that the Congress would mobilise the farmers in the state against anti-farmer policies of the governments both at the centre as well as in the state.
Addressing an impressive gathering here on the holy land associated with Guru Angad Dev, the PPCC chief pointed out that the Akali Dal was in alliance with the BJP in the state and at the centre but the party was opposing its own alliance partner in neighbouring Haryana where it was in partnership with the Indian National Lok Dal led by Mr Om Parkash Chautala, now in Tihar jail, citing family ties while in essence, business interests were at the core. It was the Devi Lal government which had allotted to kland to the Badal where now stand a seven star hotel.
He said Mr Badal had been trading the Haryana Sikhs for the business interests of his family and it was for this reason that he had misused every Sikh institution to oppose the formation of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee as this was going to end his monopoly. He said while the formation of this committee had fulfilled longstanding demand of the Sikhs in that state to manage their own shrines, it would facilitate their emergence as a powerful group which facilitate them to bargain directly keeping in view the interests of the community in that state. He said the population of the Sikhs was second highest in Haryana after Punjab but till now, they lacked such a platform and hence they were getting ignored.
He announced that the Congress would launch agitation shortly on the issues concerning the farmers, the immediate one being reduction in the moisture limit from 15 to 14 per cent which would create problems, especially in the context of late monsoons. This step of GoI will virtually destroy the Rice Shelling industry in Punjab and farmers will have to face lot of hardships to sell the paddy crop.
He said on this land where Guru Angad Dev evolved Gurmukhi script, Mr Badal should tell the people as to why Punjabi was being ignored even in Union territory of Chandigarh where it did not enjoy the status of a second language. He slammed the Chief Minister for just resorting to sloganeering to exploit the sentiments of the people without getting a single demand accepted. Earlier he could pass on the blame to the UPA government at the centre alleging discrimination but now it was his own government in power at the centre in which his own daughter-in-law Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal was the cabinet minister.
He recalled that Mr Badal had bestowed the honour of Sardar-e-Azam on Mr Narendra Modi during his visit to Punjab who, after taking over as the Prime Minister, had rebuffed Punjab on every issue. “Mr Badal promised truckloads of money with Mr Modi becoming Prime Minister but on the contrary, the Finance Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley, had rejected the demand for a special package. The tyres of his money truck have been deflated by the Modi government. Yet another blow to Punjab is the change in paddy specification which would affect both farmers and the millers. The third shocker is the rejection of yet another long pending demand by Mr Jaitley in his capacity as the Defence Minister relating to recruitment in the armed forces on the basis of merit rather than the present system of quota”, he added.
The PPCC asserted it was former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh who deserved the honour of Sardar-e-Azam as he had never turned back Mr Badal while Mr Modi had become inaccessible to the Punjab Chief Minister as his picture with him presenting him a bouquet had not appeared in the papers for a long time.
He alleged that while Badal and Badals had promised truckloads of money, these were there but going out in private trucks in the form of earnings from sand and drugs. He also charged the Badal government with frittering away the allocation of Rs. 850 made by the UPA government to the state to deal with the problem of waterlogging and floods. He said heavy rains had again created havoc in parts of the Malwa region and Mr Badal must explain to the people as to where they money had been diverted. He demanded a white paper on the utilization of the funds released by UPA for this purpose.
He slammed Badal for squandering the public money through Sangat Darshans. Rs 3000 crores is being squandered through Sangat Darshans every year purely on the whims and fancies of the CM. Badal is still stuck in the feudal mindset. Now even Arun Jaitley has raised serious objections of misuse of RDF and PIDB funds and the Union finance minister wants these funds to be routed through consolidated funds for monitoring and transparency.
Others who spoke on occasion included S. Surinder Pal Singh Sibia Vice President PPCC, S. Harminder Singh Gill General Secretary PPCC, S. Fateh Jang Singh Bajwa General Secretary PPCC, Sukhjinder Raj Singh Lalli Majithia General Secretary PPCC, S. Jasbir Singh Dimpa General Secretary PPCC, Sh. Yoginder Pal Dhingra General Secretary PPCC, S. Gurchet Singh Bhullar Ex Minister, S. Sukhpal Singh Bhullar President District Congress Committee Tarn Taran, Sh. Rajiv Bhagat President District Congress Committee Amritsar Urban, Sh. Gurjit Aujla President District Congress Committee Amritsar Urban, Prof. Gurwinder Singh Mamanke Secretary PPCC, S. Bhupinder Singh Bittu Inderjit Singh Zira Chairman Kisan & Khet Majdoor Cell, S. Inderjit Singh Basarke Ex President DCC Amritsar Rural, S. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal Chairman Intellectual Cell, S. Jatinder Pal Singh Bedi Chairm Beopar Cell, Sh. Amjad Khan Chairman Minority Cell, Sh. Jagtar Burj Chairman Panchayat Rural & Development Cell, S. Gurminder Singh Rataul, S. Baldish Singh Toor Secretary PPCC, S. Anoop Bhullar, S. Gurdev Singh Bittu Secretary PPCC, Sh. Pardeep Kumar Chopar Secretary PPCC, Sh. Bhola Singh Shakri Chairman Transport Cell, Smt. Mamta Dutta, Sh. Kulbir Singh Zira, Sh. Paramjit Singh Randhawa Secretary PPCC and Sh. Pinderjit Singh Sarli.
