Khaira lauds Navjot Sidhu for ‘friendly match’ remarks

BATHINDA: Lauding Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for his “friendly match” jibe and taking a stand against two major political parties in the state, PDA candidate from Bathinda Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Tuesday said, “During the SAD government, Capt Amarinder Singh was given a clean chit in the Ludhiana City Centre scam.

Sukhpal Khaira addresses a press conference in Bathinda on Tuesday. Tribune Photo: Pawan Sharma

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 21

Lauding Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for his “friendly match” jibe and taking a stand against two major political parties in the state, PDA candidate from Bathinda Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Tuesday said, “During the SAD government, Capt Amarinder Singh was given a clean chit in the Ludhiana City Centre scam. The Chief Minister reciprocated during the Congress government by not ensuring concrete action against the Badals in the sacrilege and Behbal Kalan firing case.”

Addressing a press conference here, Khaira said, “We have been telling the people for a long time that both Congress and SAD have been working in collusion to ensure that no third party can assume power in the state. These parties are relying on the dictum of ‘you scratch my back and I will scratch yours’. Due to their collusion, the state is in dire straits.”

“Speaking at the penultimate moments before the voting for the Lok Sabha elections against his own government and top leadership during a Congress rally in Bathinda, it was indeed a brave act by Navjot Sidhu. We whole heartedly welcome his stance. Now, it becomes important that he does not retract from his stand as Congress leaders in the state will launching verbal attacks against him. He must be ready to counter them and our full support is with him,” he added.

Khaira said, “Taking turns, both Congress and SAD governments have ensured safe passage or acquittal of each other in serious scandals and corruption charges. If anyone has minutely observed political developments over the past decade and a half, one can easily deduce that there are firm evidences of collusion between the two major political parties and their respective leaders in the state.”

“Ahead of the Assembly elections, Capt Amarinder Singh was given a clean chit in the Ludhiana City Centre scam during the SAD government. Later in 2018, he was acquitted in the Amritsar Improvement Trust land scam. When the Congress assumed the charge, it reciprocated in equal measures by first forming the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission which probed the sacrilege incidents and subsequent firing incident at Behbal Kalan, but later a SIT was constituted to probe the case. After that, acting on a complaint, SIT head Kunwar Vijay Pratap was transferred by the EC,” he said.

Khaira said, “The government could have challenged the move in the HC or SC, but it chose to drag its feet and remained silent on the matter.”