JALANDHAR, August 5: Former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today said that it was not only the BJP ministers who were feeling suffocated in the current government, but even most of the Akali ministers as well, since power had been concentrated within the Badal family.
Earlier, Capt Amarinder visited the residence of late leader Chaudhary Jagjit Singh and met his wife Ms Gurbachan Kaur and son Chaudhary Surinder Singh and offered his heartfelt condolences. His brother and Jalandhar MP Chaudhary Santokh and nephew Vikram Chaudhary were also present.
The former Chief Minister recalled his long association with the late leader, saying, Chaudhary Jagjit was a selfless leader who always worked for the welfare of the downtrodden. He said, the welfare of his people was always his top most priority and he always remained connected with his roots and the people he represented.
Later, in an informal conversation with reporters Capt Amarinder said that there was lot of resentment not only among the BJP ministers, but also those from the Akali Dal as well. “Total power has been concentrated within the Badal family and ministers cannot even think of transferring a class IV employee without their (Badals’) permission”, he said, while replying to a question about some BJP ministers openly challenging the functioning of the alliance government.
When asked whether he saw the two alliance partners parting ways by 2017 assembly elections, the former Chief Minister did not rule it out. “Well, the way situation is building up, it seems both the partners are waiting for an opportunity to call it off and also preparing for it”, he observed, while remarking, the BJP ministers are still better off as they can vent their anger and grievance while as the Akali ministers can’t even open their mouth. He said, Badal’s latest pursuit for panthic agenda was part of those preparations only.
He reiterated that the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was deliberately trying to fiddle with the panthic agenda despite knowing well that it can have dangerous repercussions for the state. He said, he (Mr Badal) was doing this only to divert the public attention from his failures without realising that this can prove to be dangerous and disastrous for the state.
Capt Amarinder maintained that his mass contact programme had proved to be a spectacular success as people have been attending the rallies in huge numbers. He said, the rallies have mobilised the cadres and boosted their morale and they are ready for the 2017 assembly elections which will see clear sweep in favour of Congress. “We are having more and more requests from our MLAs and other leaders who want to hold rallies in their respective areas”, he disclosed, while adding, after completing the district level programmes, there will be assembly level public meetings.
Capt Amarinder was accompanied by local leaders including Ramanjit Singh Sikki, Satnam Kainth, Tejinder Bittu, Hardev Singh Ladi, BIS Chahal, Sonu Dhesi, Gurmail Pahalwan and others.