Sidhu accuses Badals of plundering state

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 20

Four days after coining a slogan, ‘Bhaag Baba Badal bhaag’, former BJP MP-turned-Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu today targeted the Badals with a “chargesheet”, accusing them of plundering the state’s resources.

Through the document, titled ‘10 years of misrule by the Badals’, Sidhu sought to establish that the state’s interests were in conflict with the interests of the ruling family.

Addressing a press conference here, he said: “Punjab de dukha te Sukhvilas banaya hai”, referring to a Badal resort near Chandigarh. “Punjab’s loss is directly proportional to Badals’ gain,” he quipped.

He claimed that Punjab’s annual revenue collection from 12,500 liquor vends stood at Rs 5,610 crore as against Tamil Nadu’s Rs 26,188 crore from 6,323 vends. “If calculations are made over a 10-year period, it comes out to be a scam of Rs 1 lakh crore. If the government takes over the liquor trade, 60,000 jobs can be created,” he said.

“Before coming to power in 2007, the Badal family owned 50 buses, but now the number stands at 650. The number of transport companies owned by the family has risen from two to eight,” he alleged, adding that the government companies having larger fleets were running into huge losses, even as the Badal buses were profiting.

“The total loan outstanding against Punjab is Rs 1,88,000 crore. If the loans to all corporations are included, it goes up to Rs 3 lakh crore,” he said, lamenting that new loans were being taken to pay interest on the previous ones.

Sidhu claimed that he left the BJP as the party was not ready to leave its alliance partner, the SAD. Asserting that he had no ambition to become the Chief Minister, the ex-cricketer said he had joined the Congress unconditionally.