Dasuya (The Stellar News) – Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal today said chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had no morals and had even approached him during the SAD-BJP government tenure to extricate his brother Manmohan Singh’s name from the Ludhiana city scam case.
Talking to newsmen here after addressing public meetings in favour of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Sushil Kumar “Pinky” Sharma, the SAD President said “Channi had no qualms in approaching me to save his brother from being implicated in the City scam case. He begged for this and also extended support to the SAD as an independent candidate”.
Telling the chief minister to first introspect on the manner in which he had stooped to save his family members who were accused of corrupt practices, Mr Sukhbir Badal said “even your ‘me too’ moment is still fresh in the minds of the people. It does not suit you to preach morality or speak on corruption of which you are the fountainhead”, he told the chief minister.
The SAD president also asked the chief minister to first implement the promises made by him. “Where is the sand which people were supposed to get at Rs 5.50 per cubic feet? Why are consumers still receiving bills without the reduction of Rs 3 per unit which was announced by you?”
Stating that Channi was resorting to falsehoods to deceive Punjabis, Mr Badal said “the truth is that the CM controls the entire illegal sand mining operations in the Kharar-Ropar belt. This is not all. Mr Channi is also the largest illegal colonizer in the State”.
When queried about Transport minister Amarinder Singh Raja Warring claiming that he had forced the transport company owned by the Badal family to cough up Rs 14 crore in taxes, the SAD president said this was an outright lie. “I challenge Raja Warring to show receipts to this effect. Forget Rs 14 crore, I challenge him to show receipts of even Rs 10crore or even Rs 5 crore which had been recovered from any transport company owned by our family”.
Meanwhile in a major announcement, Mr Badal said besides establishing a separate ministry of Kandi Area Development once the SAD-BSP government was formed in the State, the next government would also come out with a special policy to incentivize industry in the Kandi belt.
Mr Badal received a rousing reception in the morning when he arrived here. The enthusiasm was such that hundreds of youth accompanied him throughout the day in the constituency. He held various public conferences at villages Bodal Ber Shah, Budho Barkat, Ghogra and Talwara. He also paid obeisance at Gurdwara Garna Sahib and Tap Asthan Baba Gharha Dass ji
Senior leaders including Jatinder Singh Lali Bajwa, Varinder Singh Bajwa, Surinder Singh Bhullewal Rathan, Sarabjot Singh Sabi, Balbir Singh Miani, Lakhwinder Singh Lakhi and Gurpreet Singh Cheema also accompanied the SAD President during his tour of the constituency. EOM
