After Sidhu’s swoop, Cong a divided house

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 15

The swoop by Local Bodies Minister Navjot Sidhu over illegal colonies and buildings in Jalandhar on Thursday and action taken against the Town Planning staff of the Municipal Corporation (MC) has certainly shaken people of the city.

While there are some who are appreciating his “daring” stand, there are many who are criticising the action, calling it a mere “drama” to gain popularity.

However, this has exposed chinks within the party and led to the creation of more rift among local leaders. Many leaders have been alleging that Sidhu specifically chose a day when Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh was in Jalandhar for a thanksgiving rally at Shahkot and Mayor Jagdish Raja was not working owing to his mother’s recent demise. They have also been alleging that his purpose was only to gain mileage out of the episode and that he specifically chose Jalandhar for such action as he perhaps thought that the leaders here were not much vocal and would not react much as in other places.

All four city MLAs, Jalandhar MP and Jalandhar District Congress president have been giving different reactions on the episode. Jalandhar (West) MLA Sushil Rinku went to the extreme, strongly criticising the move and stopping action. Meanwhile, Jalandhar Cantt MLA Pargat Singh, who drove for Sidhu yesterday through the city, has been completely siding with him and did not come in any such support against the demolition in his area.

Jalandhar (North) MLA Bawa Henry has chosen to be indifferent so far. The Jalandhar (Central) MLA Rajinder Beri has some reservations and so is the status of Jalandhar MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh and district Congress chief Daljeet Ahluwalia.

A protégé of ex-minister Rana Gurjeet Singh and an ex-councillor Sushil Rinku, Jalandhar (West) MLA, used very strong words against Sidhu, “I would call his orders anti-people and rather unfortunate. The orders by our minister have resulted in much panic and annoyance among the residents. Over 2,000 people have contacted me since yesterday’s action. I will not let the people of my constituency, who have elected me, suffer. The JCB machine will first pass over me before felling any building. The minister should have first set his house in order by giving out the pending one-time settlement policy before taking action. Sidhu should have first paid attention towards providing amenities like good roads, streetlights and drinking water before resorting to such actions.”

Jalandhar Cantt MLA Pargat Singh tried to hit at Rinku in a subtle manner, “We must support any good move of our ministers. I have heard that Rinku has reacted negatively, but he should himself be answerable to this. I have no right to react on his actions. People know who is right and who is wrong. I accompanied the minister to about 35-40 sites, of which very few had paid the CLU. If the dues are not coming to the government, how can development take place? The government first needs funds to create amenities like roads, lights etc.”

Jalandhar (North) MLA Bawa Henry chose the middle path, “It is Sidhu’s ministry and, thus, entirely his prerogative to take action. We all know that there is too much corruption prevailing in the MC office. I am not even aware as to which area of my constituency the minister visited yesterday. I am aware of how MLA Rinku reacted, but I will not like to comment on the matter before any similar action in my area. I am, however, of the opinion that one-time settlement policy should have come before action, but I am told that the minister is already working on it.”

Jalandhar MP Ch Santokh Singh said, “Since yesterday, representatives of many market associations and builders from the city have been visiting me. There surely has been some panic. The MC officials should have first served notices to the people and not started sudden action. Proper paper work ahead of action is a must. In any case, we are planning for a meeting on Monday which will be attended by Mayor and officials too.”

DCC president Daljeet Ahluwalia reacted, saying, “We too are against any unauthorised constructions. But we must look for alternative way for colonies where people have been living for 10 years. We just can’t raze these overnight. Also, we need to look into account as to how an MLA was today supporting 500 people who were in panic. I immediately called up the DC, MC Commissioner and even the Chief Minister from the site to tell them that the situation is going bad.”