... targets Manpreet, Channi

Chandigarh, March 11

Former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, though no longer members of the Vidhan Sabha, were the target of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during the discussion on the Budget. None from the Congress defended them. The Budget was passed by the House today.

During his speech, Mann hit out at his one-time friend (he had joined Manpreet’s PPP), saying that the AAP government was trying to set the wrong things committed by the “Mirza Ghalib” of the previous government right. Manpreet used to recite Urdu couplets in the House and was referred to as Mirza Ghalib.

Ex-FM Joined various parties

Manpreet joined various parties – he first wore blue turban (SAD), then changed to yellow turban (when he formed the PPP) and then came on deputation to Congress wearing a white turban. He has again changed to saffron turban. —Bhagwant Mann, CM

“He presented nine Budgets, but none of these made sense. In the meantime, he also joined various parties —he first wore blue turban (Akali Dal), then changed to yellow turban (when he formed the PPP) and then came on deputation to the Congress wearing a white turban. He has again changed his turban to saffron colour (referring to his joining the BJP),” said Mann.

Earlier, Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, defending his excise policy, pointed out how “Raja Warring’s “friend” (referring to Manpreet) had allotted some liquor vends on the border of Bathinda with Haryana, so that cheaper liquor smuggled from Haryana could be sold there.

Referring to Channi, Mann mocked that he had gone to the US to write his PhD thesis while replying to the Congress suggestion of sending teachers for training to the UK instead of Singapore. “We should see what Channi learnt in the US, though he went there after money was recovered from the house of his relative. He still uses religion and caste for furthering his political ambitions,” said the CM.