Immolation bid brings govt under Oppn fire

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 12

Alleging that the SAD-BJP government had lost the moral right to continue in power, the Congress today demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Badal.

The Opposition party was reacting to the immolation attempt by a Gurdaspur woman near the Chief Minister’s residence in Chandigarh. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Sunil Jakhar demanded that “a criminal case should be registered against the state government for abetment to suicide”. “The immolation victim was demanding a job, but failed to get one due to the callous attitude of the government. Fed up, she set herself ablaze,” he said.

Jakhar, who along with senior Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa visited the woman at a hospital in Chandigarh, said, “Such incidents are a fallout of false promises, including on jobs, made by SAD president Sukhbir Badal ahead of the Assembly elections.”

Jakhar said the Badal government was running away from convening the Assembly session because it did not want to discuss important issues such as unemployment, drugs, delay in payment to farmers, failure to fulfil promises made to the people, poor fiscal health, etc.

Capt Amarinder Singh, Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, expressed shock over the incident, “which is reflective of desperation amongst the people and the failure of the government to address the concerns of unemployment”. “This reflects overall failure of governance in Punjab,” he said.

Partap Singh Bajwa, Punjab Congress chief, alleged the Chief Minister was morally responsible for the immolation bid in front of his official residence. He said it was time for the government to introspect on how many promises had been implemented by the government. “You need to explain to the people about the inexcusable failure of your government to govern. Your government is symbol of total corruption and non-governance,” he said.

Manpreet Singh Badal, People’s Party of Punjab president, alleged it was a shocking incident that a person had tried to commit suicide in front of the Chief Minister’s residence. “As per reports, the woman was desperately looking for a job. Badal needs to go through the Akali Dal manifesto in which a solemn commitment has been made to end the staggering unemployment in the state. The rulers have been making tall claims of attracting massive investment, which could lead to employment generation. The government vacancies were not being filled in the same proportion due to the empty coffers. The government backed out even on its promise to provide unemployment allowance,” he said.

Aam Aadmi Party’s state convener Sucha Singh Chottepur said, “It is a very sad and shameful day for democracy in a once prosperous Punjab where educated but unemployed youth are embracing death due to the callous and unhelpful attitude of the government.”

He claimed the woman had been seeking an audience with the CM for the last four days, but the “insensitive coterie of officials and security personnel around him did not let her present her case”. “Having lost hope, she attempted suicide,” he said.