Welcoming the 'dressing down' of deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal and his cabinet colleague Bikramjit Singh Majithia by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal during the NRI Sammelan on Saturday, Congress MP Partap Singh Bajwa on Sunday said at last the 'patriarch' has woken up from a long
slumber.
"The CM's speech at the NRI Sammelan was statesman-like and has cleared some of the confusion prevailing in the political and administrative circles," Bajwa said, adding that the CM must implement the advice given by him to his son and Majithia in letter and spirit.
"As a follow up of the statement, Majithia must be dropped from the cabinet for his acts of omission and commission as he has defiled the sanctity of the august house by unparliamentarily behaviour of the worst kind," Bajwa said, adding that the sorry episode was not the only example of misdemeanour committed by the brother-in-law duo. "Even on Saturday, when the CM was speaking at the NRI Sammelan, his son preferred to leave the venue in between," he said, adding that the contempt shown towards the elder statesmen was palpable.
The chief minister must drop Majithia from his cabinet as the latter's antics are of no interest to people, Bajwa stated, suggesting that the CM must prove not just his credentials as a democrat but his standing as an independent leader.
Issuing advice to Majithia, Bajwa said "he belongs to one of the most socially and politically eminent families of Punjab and after a stinging rebuke from the CM, he can do no better than to resign on his own, which democratic propriety demands".