Majithia red-faced as CM says he is ‘most powerful’

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 14

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today cut Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia to size, saying “maximum benefit of power” in the government was in the hands of his family.

Addressing the 108th annual convocation of Khalsa College in Amritsar, Badal chose Majithia’s father Satyajit Singh Majithia, who is the college governing council chairman, to take potshots at the minister. “I have made your son a Cabinet minister, your daughter (Harsimrat Kaur Badal) a Union Minister and your son-in-law (Sukhbir Singh Badal) the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab. What more you can expect from me? Perhaps, you are the only person in the country whose family holds such important positions,” he said.

Aware of being targeted several times on the issue, Badal said: “Though I have been frequently criticised, I still did it.” However, Badal subsequently announced a grant of Rs 50 lakh for the college.

Badal’s sarcastic remarks left Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Harsimrat, Bikram and Punjab BJP chief Kamal Sharma baffled. Though many in the audience laughed, a few said the CM had snubbed Bikram for sitting among the audience instead of the dais.