The Punjab Congress has taken a serious note of the criminal case registered against Gurpreet Singh Kangar, its vice-president and former MLA from Rampura Phul assembly constituency, and blamed education minister Sikander Singh Maluka for hatching a political conspiracy against the Congress leader.
In a statement issued here, PPCC vice-presidents OP Soni, Charanjit Singh Channi and Tarlochan Singh Soond, and party spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira said that party president Partap Singh Bajwa was seized of the matter and the Congress would take the fight against highhandedness of the SAD-BJP government to a logical end.
The Congress leaders said that Kangar and 10 other party leaders were booked in a case of poll violation even though he was not present at the scene. The Congress workers, however, opposed the misuse of government machinery at the time of polling for the panchayat elections.
They said that it was a clear case of vendetta registered at the behest of Shiromani Akali Dal minister Maluka who was recently nailed by the Congress for his involvement in the purchase of library books, science kits and practical notebooks. Kangar also led a dharna and protest against Maluka at Rampura Phul, demanding his resignation for embezzlement in central funds meant for the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan.
The Congress leaders said that Maluka was behaving in a desperate manner after his misdeeds had been exposed in public. They said that his name also figured in the assault on director general of school education (DGSE) Kahan Singh Pannu.
The Congress leaders said that the SAD-BJP government had registered false cases against many other party leaders and workers during the panchayat block samiti and zila parishad elections. They said that in another incident at Samrala, Ajmer Singh Nagra, the brother-in-law of Congress MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon, was beaten up by a local SAD candidate for the sarpanch who lost the election.
The Congress leaders said that Maluka was behaving in a desperate manner after his misdeeds had been exposed in public. They said that his name also figured in the assault on director general of school education (DGSE) Kahan Singh Pannu.
The Congress leaders said that the SAD-BJP government had registered false cases against many other party leaders and workers during the panchayat block samiti and zila parishad elections. They said that in another incident at Samrala, Ajmer Singh Nagra, the brother-in-law of Congress MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon, was beaten up by a local SAD candidate for the sarpanch who lost the election.
The Congress demanded the cancellation of an FIR against Kangar and others. They said a case should be registered against SAD leaders who were trying to rig the poll process.