I may be alone in Cabinet, but I am not afraid: Sidhu

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 18

“Asool par aanch aaye to takrana zaroori hai; Zinda ho to zinda nazar aana zaroori hai.” This is how Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu sums up his present situation in the state politics.

Most often a victim of “majoritarianism” within the Council of Ministers, which leads to policies framed by him being “ignored” in the government, Sidhu insists it does not bother him and he will continue to make his point of view known.

“Nobody can stop Sidhu from speaking for the good of Punjab and for the underprivileged. It is easier to walk alone. I have nothing to take from this political system. The purpose of my life is — never to betray the faith of the people who voted for you. My aim is to erase the image of corrupt politicians, so that we win people’s trust. By speaking for the needy and against rewarding those who have circumvented the law, I am doing my duty — something that people of Punjab have voted me to power for… I can’t let Punjab go to the dogs. Men of genius are admired; men of power are feared; and men of character are loved. I have chosen to be a man of character. When I walk on the road and someone points out “Sardar Bhagwant Singh (my father’s name) da beta imandaar hai”, that day my life is made. So I don’t think beyond what is good for the state and make my viewpoint known and record my objections if I feel guilty are being rewarded,” he told The Tribune in an exclusive interview here on Wednesday.

Just as he has done during the deliberations on the draft policy for regularising illegal colonies on Tuesday, when despite his objections to the “concessions being granted to colonisers”, the majority of members in the Group of Ministers (GoM) declared that the draft policy had been approved “unanimously”.

Sidhu, however, smiles, when asked if he was in unanimity with the other ministers in the group. “The beauty of democracy is that everybody can have a difference of opinion. We are to look at how to develop Punjab in a futuristic manner. Votes is one thing… there are some commitments we made to the voters and policy has to be pro-urban poor. I feel the policy should look at making liveable urban spaces, not concrete jungles and downtown-like situations. I raised my points for the urban poor and had objections to our cities being killed,” he said.

He also raised objections to the colonisers, who have developed illegal colonies, being present in the meeting on Tuesday as “stakeholders”, while the government did not call those colonisers who have made legal colonies.

Emphasising why he insisted that open spaces be retained in the policy for regularising illegal colonies, or why he wanted wider roads in the colonies than proposed, he says that a recent study by the WHO points out that humans should not be compared with animals while designing and planning urban layouts. He said, “The report says that every 23 seconds a man is dying because of bad urban development.  Here in Punjab, officers allowed these illegal colonies to come up without taking Change in Land Use charges, illegal sewerage connections being given to the illegal colonisers, but now nobody even wants to take any action. How can the policy on regularisation be progressive and not a one-time settlement? Are we allowing unregulated and unplanned development open-ended?”