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Will serve legal notice on transport minister for calling private bus operators ‘mafia’: Sukhbir Badal
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday said he will serve legal notice on Punjab transport minister Laljit Singh Bhullar for referring to private bus operators in the state as ‘mafia’.
AMRITSAR: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday said he will serve legal notice on Punjab transport minister Laljit Singh Bhullar for referring to private bus operators in the state as ‘mafia’.
Sukhbir was on the premises of Golden Temple to attend the function held at Akal Takht to mark the 102nd foundation day of the party.
Reacting to the amendment made by the AAP government in the Punjab Transport Scheme-2018, which the ruling party said was an attempt to end the ‘monopoly’ enjoyed by a few families in the inter-state private bus transport sector, Badal said, “It was shameful that transport minister has referred to all transporters as ‘mafia’. Punjabis have excelled in the transport sector in the country and even abroad.”
Bhullar, while unveiling the Punjab Transport Scheme-2018 on Tuesday, said it was formulated by the erstwhile Congress government to “give undue benefits to the Badal family and other private bus mafias.”
“The scheme enabled the entry of private buses into Chandigarh, leading to the sheer loot of the state exchequer,” Bhullar had said in a statement here.
“The Badal (Parkash Singh Badal) family, during its government’s two tenures from 2007 to 2017, created various schemes to fulfil their personal interests, in which the Congress government also helped the Badals in running their transport businesses smoothly, including one of inter-state movement of their AC buses to Chandigarh,” he had alleged.
Badal said his own transport company has been in operation since 1947 when the country got freedom. The Akali Dal leader said the transport sector was a predominant profession among Punjabis and to call private transporters mafia, is similar to calling all Punjabis mafia.
“They (Punjabis) have done so by hard work. It is condemnable that they were being tagged as ‘mafia’, a word associated with criminals,” Badal said adding, “Our family has been working in the transport sector since independence. Never have we been accused of any illegal activity. Attempts have been made by the erstwhile transport minister Raja Warring during the Congress government and the present government also to stop our buses from plying, but we have got relief from the high court. Now, we will serve a legal notice to the transport minister for implying that we are indulging in illegal activity and following all legal remedies to ensure justice is done.”
Badal was accompanied by the senior leadership of the SAD, including Prem Singh Chandumajra and SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami during the ceremony to mark the 102nd foundation day of the party.
He appealed to the Sikh community to defeat forces bent on breaking Sikh institutions and wresting control over them by installing their puppets at top positions.
“It was unfortunate that the centre wanted to install its rubber stamps as heads of Sikh institutions. No one should interfere in the internal matters of the community,” he said
Badal also stated that the SAD had always trodden the path shown by the Guru Sahiban. “We know there can be progress in Punjab only if there is respect for all religions and communities, and we are committed to taking everyone together to achieve this,” he added.
Answering a query, Badal said the law and order situation had collapsed completely and that the SAD was holding a meeting of its core committee tomorrow to decide on the next course of action to force the AAP government to wrest control of the state from the hands of gangsters.
