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CM’s political secy threatened me over phone: Pargat Singh
The rift in the ruling Congress in Punjab took a nasty turn when party MLA Pargat Singh on Monday accused Capt Sandeep Sandhu, political secretary to chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, of threatening him for speaking his mind on the sacrilege and police firing cases
The rift in the ruling Congress in Punjab took a nasty turn when party MLA Pargat Singh on Monday accused Capt Sandeep Sandhu, political secretary to chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, of threatening him for speaking his mind on the sacrilege and police firing cases.
Pargat, who has been critical of his own government’s mishandling of the probe into these cases, alleged that Sandhu threatened him over the phone on Thursday night. “Sandhu said he was conveying the chief minister’s message that papers have been collected against me and I should be ready to face action. I asked him thrice whether the CM had told him to say these things and he (Sandhu) confirmed it,” the Jalandhar Cantonment MLA said at a press conference at his flat here.
The two-time legislator said he told Sadhu to convey to the chief minister that he (Pargat) was ready to face any consequences. “I later even asked him if he has given my message to Capt, he confirmed that he has. If this is what one has to face for raising the sacrilege cases, power purchase agreements, illegal mining and probe into irrigation scam, so be it. I am ready to face any kind of probe. They can do whatever they want,” the former India hockey captain said, adding that he had informed Punjab Congress Sunil Jakhar about the threat call. While Sandhu did not respond to calls or text messages, no statement was issued by the chief minister’s office (CMO).
Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa termed the incident as extremely distressing. “I stand with him (Pargat) and his democratic right to speak about issues affecting Punjab. This continuous attempt to browbeat party MLAs for raising their voice must stop,” he tweeted.
The Congress MLA’s serious allegations have left the state government red faced. Considered close to former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Pargat has been critical of the Amarinder Singh government’s handling of the sacrilege and police firing cases. After a meeting the chief minister held with party MLAs three weeks ago, he had hit out at the state government, stating there was perception among the people that Amarinder and Badals were hand in glove. Both Sidhu and Pargat had also held a meeting with some ministers and MLAs critical of the chief minister which did not go down well with the CM’s camp.
At his press conference, Pargat also said the threat call from the CM’s aide had left him dejected because he had never expected such a thing. He also raised questions over the vigilance probe initiated against close associates of Sidhu and the bid to rake up a two-and-a-half-years old case of alleged harassment of a woman IAS officer against cabinet minister Charanjit Singh Channi who has also been discontented over the legal setback in the Kotkapura police firing case.
“The misuse of agencies for arm-twisting and carrying out political vendetta must be stopped. Such threats will not work. They need to give up such tactics,” Pargat said, calling BIS Chahal, adviser to CM, the de facto DG of the State Vigilance Bureau. The MLA also denied that there was any attempt by them to form a group or camp in the party.
