People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) president Manpreet Singh
Badal has said that chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and all his cabinet should resign, if they lack the courage to face the state’s people.
He said it on Friday as the Shiromani Akali Dal observed the death anniversary of its former president Sant Fateh Singh in Bathinda district and the CM cancelled his visit to the function at Badiala village. “The CM is now avoiding state-level functions in the area he has long considered his family bastion, which shows the state of panic the state’s rulers are in. Even Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, CM’s daughter-in-law and MP from Bathinda, stayed away,” said Manpreet.
On November 2, his party delegation will meet the governor in Chandigarh to demand the dismissal of the state government and imposition of the President’s rule. “Badal and company have lost the legitimacy to govern, since they are afraid to face the people who elected them to power. The only way out for them is to quit and seek fresh mandate,” he said, while addressing the media here.
Referring to the incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, he demanded action against the policemen who killed two Sikh protesters in firing. “What we are seeing in Punjab is a sudden outburst of the suppressed anger over how the government framed its opponents in false cases and went about looting people,” he claimed. Referring to the inquiry ordered into the sacrilege cases, Manpreet said justice Zora Singh (retd), the one-man judicial commission, was “a close friend of the CM”.
{{/usCountry}}Referring to the incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, he demanded action against the policemen who killed two Sikh protesters in firing. “What we are seeing in Punjab is a sudden outburst of the suppressed anger over how the government framed its opponents in false cases and went about looting people,” he claimed. Referring to the inquiry ordered into the sacrilege cases, Manpreet said justice Zora Singh (retd), the one-man judicial commission, was “a close friend of the CM”.
{{/usCountry}}Ridicules govt’s investment claims
Reacting to the government’s claiming high returns from the Progressive Punjab investors’ summit, the PPP chief said a congenial environment was essential for attracting fresh investment. Referring to the government’s declaring food-processing as zero-tax industry, he said deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal should clarify whether the concession was for outside investors or “just his own latest area of interest”. “My doubts are based on the fact that the transport policy was tweaked in favour of super luxury buses and the market became deputy CM’s monopoly,” he said.
Along with his party colleagues PP Dhillon and Maninder Palasaur, Manpreet visited the Golden Temple “to pray for the return of peace”.