Makingit absolutely clear that indiscipline in the party would not be tolerated atany cost, the Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh on Tuesdaycategorically said that if Navjot Singh Sidhu wants to contest against him thenhe is free to do so but that would only lead to Sidhu meeting the fate ofGeneral J.J. Singh who lost his security deposit.
Inan interview to a private channel, the Chief Minister challenged Navjot SinghSidhu to clearly spell out whether he is a member of Congress party or not? “Ifyes, then his continuing rant against his Chief Minister and the Governmentamounts to gross indiscipline”, said Capt. Amarinder Singh adding the Congressdissident ought to choose the side he was on because in Congress he isindulging in breaking the discipline of the party, BJP won’t take him back andas far as the SAD is concerned, they are also peeved with him.
Pointingout further, the Chief Minister also lauded the Punjab Pradesh CongressCommittee (PPCC) President Sunil Jakhar and said that the latter is doing agood job and discharging his responsibility well so, there is no question ofSidhu being appointed in Sunil Jakhar’s place. “It has been just four years whenSidhu joined the Congress and as such there are many people who have startedtheir careers with the Youth Congress who are much senior to him hence how canhe be given Deputy Chief Minister of PPCC President’s post”, asserted Capt.Amarinder Singh.
Onthe issue of Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Sunil Jakhartendering their resignations, the Chief Minister said that he had rejected thesame.
Referringto the recent High Court verdict quashing the SIT probing the Kotkapura firing,the Chief Minister said that new SIT has been approved which would take thecase to its logical conclusion. However, he also said that the judgement hasgone beyond its brief and it is not a judicial but a political judgement. Onthe issue of delay in the case, Capt. Amarinder Singh clarified that the recentjudgement of the high court had nothing to do with the sacrilege cases and wasrelated to the firing at Kotkapura. The sacrilege cases are going on andalready a number of arrests have been made in them. He further said that It wasthe previous SAD government which had handed over the cases to the CBI and thepresent Congress Government had to approach the Supreme Court to get back thecase files.
Comingto the issue of oxygen supply in the State in view of Covid pandemic, the ChiefMinister said that Punjab needs daily 300 MT of oxygen but there has been nopositive response from the Central Government. “On the vaccination front, we have only oneday of stock left and that is why the Health Department has been directed toorder 30 lakh doses of covishield for 18-45 age group”, said the ChiefMinister.
Explainingthe issues related to the procurement of wheat and complaints of shortage ofgunny bags, he squarely placed the blame on Government of India for it'sshortage. Gunny bag distribution is controlled by the Jute Commissionerappointed by Government of India. There was a demand of 20 crore gunny bagsraised by the Punjab Government but theCentral Government failed to give the requisite permissions in time. Till aslate as the start of procurement on 10thApril the State Government was still awaiting permissionfor procuringabout 4 crore gunny bags from Government of India which was finallygiven on 16th April i.e. six days after the the start of procurement, he said.
Elaboratingon the DBT, the Chief Minister said that Rs. 12260 crore have been creditedinto the accounts of the farmers so far within the stipulated time limit of 48hours. He said with the introduction of DBT by centre, for the first time therewere certain hiccups which have been successfully resolved now to thesatisfaction of the farmers.
Realizingthe gravity of Covid situation across the state, the Chief Minister appealed tothe people for strict adherence to the health protocols to ensure their andtheir families’ safety. In view of spiralling Covid cases in the State, theGovernment has taken a conscious decision to put the celebrations of 400thPrakash Purb of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur ji on hold and appealed to the people tocelebrate this auspicious occasion by praying for "Sarbat da Bhala"from their homes so as to avoid large gatherings.