Warfare is on within Congress party’s Punjab unit. Less than a year before the assembly elections in the State, the allegations of Punjab Congress training its guns against its own men —critical of the State Government’s functioning — have surfaced, compelling the state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar to clarify that the party has never indulged in vendetta politics.
In a surprising turn of events, two-time legislator and Olympian Pargat Singh on Monday alleged that he received a “threatening call”, on the behalf of the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, in case he did not stop criticizing the government over the sacrilege issue.
That was not all! The state’s Tourism Minister Charanjit Singh Channi may also face the heat as the state women panel has sent a notice to the State Government in a three-year-old ‘Me Too’ case, involving him, seeking reply within a week’s time.
The developments came a day after reports emerged on a vigilance probe into the alleged deals of the close associates of former Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife Dr Navjot Kaur.
Openly coming out in support of Sidhu and Pargat Singh, Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP and Capt Amarinder’s known critic Partap Singh Bajwa Pargat asserted that the “continuous attempt” to “browbeat” the Congress MLAs for raising their voice “must stop”.
“Pargat S being threatened by the CM for doing his duty to the people & raising his voice is extremely distressing. I stand with him & his democratic right to speak about issues affecting Punjab. This continuous attempt to browbeat INC MLAs for raising their voice must stop,” tweeted Bajwa.
There were allegations against the Sidhu couple that one of their aides was instrumental in getting Change in Land Use (CLUs) files of illegal and unauthorized colonies cleared, and 500 acres of Nadda and Karoran village were being made a part of Nayagaon municipal committee by extending the limits. The project could not be completed as Sidhu resigned from the Cabinet.
Allegations were also made regarding the land deals in Dera Bassi, Zirakpur, and Amritsar that some booths of municipalities were given on rent to “known persons” by causing a loss to the state exchequer. Besides, there are allegations of several aides of Sidhu launching their own firms to land projects.
Reacting, Bajwa also tweeted, “Would have been pleasing to the eyes & ears of Punjabis had the Vigilance knocked at the doors of Badal’s for their acts of omission & commission from 2007- 2017. Sudden spurt against @sherryontopp & colleagues is ill advised, ill timed & detrimental to the interest of the Congress.”
Besides Bajwa, Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had also extended his support to Sidhu by asking the former cricketer to join the probe and come clean.
Randhawa, who has also been critical of his own party’s government and had also submitted his resignation to the Chief Minister following High Court’s adverse judgment in Kotkapura firing case, minced no words to say that Vigilance Bureau was always “used as a tool of vendetta” by the successive governments.
Amidst murmurs of dissent within the state party unit, the Punjab Congress has been divided into two power centres with both factions indulging in a silent warfare against one another. As the anti-Capt Amarinder camp started coming together, the reports of Vigilance Bureau opening a probe against persons close to Sidhu went around — in an apparent attempt to send across a strong message to the “dissident voices” to keep mum else face the music.
The same warning of “falling in line” was reverberated through the Monday’s developments where Pargat Singh alleged CM’s political adviser Capt Sandeep Sandhu of “threatening” him for questioning the State Government, and Punjab State Women Commission (PSWC) chairperson seeking State Government’s reply within seven days in three-year-old harassment case involving Channi and a women IAS officer.
“SANDHU ASKED ME TO GET READY TO FACE ACTION”: PARGAT SINGH
Indian hockey team’s former captain Pargat Singh on Monday accused the Chief Minister of using a stick-and-carrot policy against those raising voce against the State Government’s functioning. Pargat Singh, addressing the media, claimed that Capt Sandeep Sandhu telephoned him last week (on Thursday night) and threatened him. “He said that they have collected all papers against me and I should get ready to face action,” alleged Congress MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment.
Making it clear that he was ready to face any “punishment” for speaking the truth and raising his concern over sacrilege incidents, the former Olympian said: “Being a former captain of the Indian hockey team, I was shocked to have got such a message. But if speaking truth on sacrilege and police firing cases was not acceptable to them, let them do whatever they want.”
He alleged that even other MLAs, including Sidhu, who had raised a banner of revolt, were facing intimidation from the Government such as a vigilance probe against some of them. “If vigilance has to do something, it should take an irrigation scam involving many officials to its logical conclusion. But efforts are being made to save big fish,” he said, adding other cases were not being probed by the Vigilance Department. Pargat Singh rued that he was left with no option but to raise his voice.
Known for his uprightness and for being outspoken, Pargat Singh has been raising voice against his own party’s government from time to time reminding the Chief Minister of the “unfulfilled” promises and the need to “buck up” before it was too late.
Notably, Pargat Singh was one of the senior party leaders who participated in the meeting of MLAs and Ministers to pressurize the Chief Minister to act against the perpetrators of sacrilege and the police firing. He had also held a meeting with the Ministers — Sukhjinder Randhawa and Charanjit Channi, MP Partap Bajwa and MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu and others on the issue.
REPLY WITHIN A WEEK IN ‘ME TOO CASE’ AGAINST CHANNI ELSE WILL SIT ON DHARNA: WOMEN PANEL CHIEF
Hours after Pargat Singh’s allegations, Cabinet Minister Charanjit Singh Channi found himself in trouble with the State Women Commission sending a notice to the Punjab Government in a three-year-old “Me Too case” seeking reply within seven days. In fact, the Commission chairperson Manish Gulati had threatened to sit on dharna in case the government failed to submit a reply within the set time limit.
Channi, who had also raised the banner of revolt against his own government and had held a series of meeting with Dalit MLAs, was facing allegations of sending “objectionable” messages to a woman IAS officer.
The issue was highlighted by the media in October 2018, following which the State Women Panel had taken suo motu cognizance and sent notice to the State Government to submit a reply. However, with the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s intervention, the issue was “sorted out to IAS officer’s satisfaction” as Channi had reportedly “apologized” to her. Later, Channi had also come on record to say that the message was inadvertently sent on the IAS officer’s mobile phone and the matter has been sorted out.
However, on Monday, Commission head Gulati issued a notice to the Chief Secretary seeking a status report within a week “otherwise I, along with my team, would sit on fast at the Matka Chowk in Chandigarh from 12 pm on next Monday if the state government failed to submit its reply”.
Making it clear that the Commission has “nothing to do with the politics”, Gulati said that she has sent the notice again as several IAS officers have questioned her integrity and “accused me of pushing the matter under the carpet”.
“Many IAS officers in the State used to tell me that I have not done justice in the case. I cannot be blamed for this. State government should also know the powers of the Commission. I am answerable to the public,” said Gulati, adding that she expects better response from the Chief Secretary as she was also the women officer.
