Reiterating that the Akali-BJP alliance will remain intact even after his fading away from active politics, chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday said here there was no reason to ask beleaguered minister Bikram Singh Majitha to resign, even thought Enforcement Directorate's (ED) had summoned him in a drug case.
"As long as I am alive the SAD-BJP relations will remain solid," said Badal, adding: "As father, I have told Sukhbir that BJP naal rishta todna nee, Congress naal banana ni, (never break relations with the BJP and never make these with the Congress."
At the press conference, the CM looked upset that the Congress had not allowed him to speak in the House over the no-confidence motion. Badal said that summons from the ED didn't mean that the minister was guilty. "I was CM when a case lodged by the previous government of Captain Amarinder Singh was pending against me in the court," he said, referring to the disproportionate assets matter in which his family was, later, acquitted.
Badal said the political parties should decide at the national level whether mere summoning by any agency was reason enough for a minister or a public servant to resign. "There are cases where even convicted and jailed people have continued to hold high offices," he said.
Referring to the drug issue, the chief minister said Punjab was fighting the nation's battle against drugs, after leading from the front in the struggle for independence and then the war on hunger to make the country food-surplus. Claiming that the high amount of drugs seized was testimony to how Punjab was winning the war against drugs, he said the other states had not taken on the drug menace as seriously.
{{/usCountry}}Referring to the drug issue, the chief minister said Punjab was fighting the nation's battle against drugs, after leading from the front in the struggle for independence and then the war on hunger to make the country food-surplus. Claiming that the high amount of drugs seized was testimony to how Punjab was winning the war against drugs, he said the other states had not taken on the drug menace as seriously.
{{/usCountry}}He said the Congress strategy of disrupting the House was "unfortunate and undemocratic". "We heard (state Congress Legislature Party leader Sunil) Jakhar patiently. The Congress (on the other hand) has been disrupting my reply in the House for the past many sessions. It is setting a bad precedent," Badal rued.