Will write to Sonia Gandhi to seek strict action against back-stabbing Bajwa, Dullo: Sunil Jakhar

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 4

Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar on Tuesday said he would be writing to party president Sonia Gandhi to seek action against the brazen indiscipline of the two Rajya Sabha MPs Pratap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo, who had chosen to attack their own government.

The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief extended his sympathies to the families of those who had lost their lives in the horrific incident but said such tragedies did not give license to any individual to indulge in indiscipline.

“It was time to stem the rot and save the Congress from the petty machinations of the likes of Bajwa and Dullo, who had no shame in biting the hand that feeds them,” stressed Jakhar, adding: “Ye jis thali mein khatey hain ussi mein chhed kartey hain! (They are betraying the one who is helping them)”

He said he would seek strict action against the two MPs who were disgracefully exploiting a tragedy to further their own political ambitions and interests.

Asserting that the actions of Bajwa and Dullo could not be tolerated any longer, the Punjab Congress chief said men like these, who did not have even the courage to face elections, were no asset to the party. “Such back-stabbing members should be shown the door before they can cause any serious damage,” said Jakhar, adding that enough was enough now and he was going to clearly demand serious action against them from the party president.

Jakhar described the action of the two MPs, who had yesterday approached the Governor to demand CBI and Enforcement Department (ED) probe into the liquor deaths, as a manifestation of their desperate desire to grab the high seat of power by hook or by crook.

“How many times in all these years did they ask for expediting the CBI inquiry into the sacrilege cases (which has since been taken over by Punjab Police) or the ED probe into drugs, launched during the erstwhile SAD-BJP government?” he asked.

Pointing out that Bajwa and Dullo had been engaging in such anti-party activities for quite some time by talking against their own party and targeting the Congress government in Punjab, Jakhar said their attacks had increased after Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced his decision to contest the 2022 elections.

Having probably seen the 2022 polls as their last chance to make it big in the corridors of power, the duo saw their hopes shattered and, out of sheer frustration, were knocking at all possible doors to sneak their way to the top echelons of power, he added, citing rumours of the two MPs being in touch with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Jakhar described the attack of the two MPs on their own government as a ‘copy-paste job’ of what happened in Rajasthan in January, in the wake of 107 infant deaths over which Sachin Pilot had flayed his own government. “Had action been taken against Pilot then itself, what was happening today in Rajasthan could have been avoided,” he said, adding that he would bring to Sonia’s notice the dangers of letting Bajwa and Dullo get away with their detestable act of expressing their dissent/concern not in the party or government forum but in public.

The gross indiscipline of the two men had shown that there was no guarantee that they would stand with the party in the Rajya Sabha on key issues, Jahkahr said. The PPCC president pointed out that that the two MPs were surviving politically only due to the largesse of the Congress high command, which had nominated them to the Rajya Sabha since they had run scared from contesting Assembly or parliamentary elections.

In fact, he recalled that Rahul Gandhi had helped Bajwa by making him the PCC president in the face of opposition but his betrayal of Rahul’s and the party’s trust had exposed his petty political ambitions which he was bent on pursuing to the detriment of the Congress itself.

Dismissing as completely hollow the concerns expressed by Bajwa and Dullo, Jakhar rejected their claim of giving voice to the people of Punjab by taking the issue of the hooch tragedy to the Governor.

The two had not once raised any issue of Punjab’s interest at any forum worth mentioning, he said, pointing out that they were sent to the Rajya Sabha to represent Punjab and its people but had, till date, not spoken there on a single issue of the state’s concern.

“From SYL to Grant for Punjab, GST refunds, COVID-19 aid and the most recent anti-farmer ordinances, the two MPs had studiously chosen to keep quiet in the Upper House on every matter of importance to Punjab,” he said. In fact, even on national issues such as Article 370 and the CAA, these two had failed to deliver on the expectations of the people who they were supposed to represent and whose interests they now claim to be protecting, Jakhar added.

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