CM Channi hobnobbing with liquor, sand mafia: Sukhbir

Sukhbir Badal said for the first time, key revenue-generating portfolios like excise and mining are attached with the CM office allegedly to favour the mafia engaged in the sand and liquor trade

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday accused Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi of hobnobbing with the liquor and sand mafia.

At a dharna organised near the Bathinda district administrative complex (DAC) in support of farmers, Sukhbir Badal said individuals holding top political positions in Channi-led government and their families are involved in extracting money from liquor and sand contractors.

At a dharna organised near the Bathinda district administrative complex (DAC) in support of farmers, Badal said the ruling political dispensation is in league with the unscrupulous elements whereas the issues of the farming community are not being addressed. “It is for the first time in the history of Punjab when the key revenue-generating portfolios like excise and mining are attached with the CM office and not given to separate ministers. It was planned to favour the mafia engaged in the sand and liquor trade. Individuals holding top political positions and their families are involved in extracting money from contractors at the fag end of the Congress party’s tenure in Punjab,” alleged the SAD chief.

Badal said, ahead of the wheat-sowing period, Punjab farmers are facing a shortage of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser but the state government has failed to make necessary arrangements in advance.

“There has been open black marketeering of DAP and farmers are being fleeced. Farmers are being forced to buy other farm chemicals to procure DAP from the outlets. Government has failed to check the ongoing malpractices,” he added.

Former deputy CM said cotton growers are left in a financial lurch after their crop was damaged due to pink bollworm attack. “Government’s announcement to grant a maximum ₹12,000 per acre compensation is a cruel joke with the agrarian community. Crop loss assessment process was faulty and open to corruption and favoritism,” said Badal.

He also flayed the government’s decision to stop paddy procurement in several districts even as farmers are arriving mandis with their non-basmati produce.