Denied meeting, CPS Sidhu barges into CM’s event

Perneet Singh

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 22

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, after being “cold-shouldered” by the state government, today threatened to sit on fast-unto-death if a grant of Rs10 crore for construction of roads in her Amritsar East Assembly segment is not released within a fortnight.

Dr Sidhu served the ultimatum to the government after meeting Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during his Sangat Darshan programme at Jandiala Guru here. Talking to The Tribune, she said: “I had been seeking an appointment with Badal for the last eight months, but could not succeed in meeting him due to his hectic schedule. I even returned from Chandigarh thrice without meeting him. Therefore, I decided to meet him at his Sangat Darshan.”

She lamented that it had been three-and-a-half years since she became an MLA, but nothing had been done in her constituency. “All my files are pending with various ministries. Every time I check their status the ministers tell me that it has to be cleared by the CM,” she said.

Launching a scathing attack on the state government, she wondered, “They’ve recently announced Rs212 crore for Bathinda, a city where they’ve already spent around Rs500 crore. Is only Bathinda their city in the entire state? Is Amritsar not their city?”

She said on one hand, the CM was distributing Rs10 lakh to Rs15 lakh in every village during his Sangat Darshan programmes, but when it came to her constituency, the government did not have any money.

She said Rs10 crore was supposed to be sanctioned for Amritsar East from the Amritsar Improvement Trust under Section 69-A. “A resolution was passed in December 2014 and estimates were also prepared for the works to be carried out. Subsequently, roads were dug up to lay sewerage and water supply lines, anticipating release of funds for construction of roads, but I got nothing. Now, people are up in arms against me, saying they are living in pathetic condition during the monsoon,” she rued.

The CPS said while the government was turning a blind eye towards her constituency, the SAD councillors in her area burnt her effigy, accusing her of bias. “It means they want to throw away the honest people and this is the best policy,” she alleged.

Dr Sidhu also lashed out at Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi. “While the state government hasn’t given a single penny to the Municipal Corporation in the recent past, the Local Bodies Minister’s entire focus in on his Amritsar North constituency,” she said. “This is my final ultimatum to the state government,” she added.