SAD asks CM to explain why he did not take up even single case of discrimination against Punjab during his “Bharat Yatra” with Kejriwal to solicit support against central ordinance with regard to Delhi govt
Dr Daljit Singh Cheema CM should have spoken up against attempts to dilute Punjab’s rights over Chandigarh as well as actions aimed at weakening federal spirit of the constitution Chandigarh, May 29 – The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asked chief minister Bhagwant Mann to explain why he was not taking up a single case of discrimination against Punjab during his ongoing “Bharat Yatra” with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and why he was acting like a lackey of Kejriwal and parroting the lines of His Masters Voice.In a statement here, senior SAD leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said it was shocking that the Punjab chief minister had visited various States and met their chief ministers and prominent political leaders to solicit their support against the ordinance promulgated by the central government to make the Lt Governor of Delhi the final authority on postings and transfers, but had failed to raise injustices done to Punjab.Asking the chief minister to explain his silence to Punjabis, Dr Daljit Cheema said “never in the history of Punjab has the State witnessed a chief minister who has become completely subservient to the wishes of another State to the extent that he does not use even available forums to demand justice for his State''. Asserting that Chandigarh was also a union territory like Delhi, Dr Cheema said “Mr Bhagwant Mann has not spoken out against the repeated manner in which the centre had diluted Punjab’s claim over Chandigarh. This includes not maintaining the 60:40 ratio in postings of Punjab and Haryana officers respectively in the UT, creation of UT cadre which has robbed Punjab officials of posts in both the civil and police departments, allocation of central pay scales to Chandigarh employees and doing away with Punjabi in all official functioning”.The SAD leader said the chief minister had also failed to take up the issue of the dilution of the federal spirit of the constitution by decisions including extending the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) from 15 kilometers from the international border to 50 km and removing Punjab from decision making in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) by doing away with its Member in the Board. He said the chief minister had even not protested when Punjabi was removed as a minor subject in the CBSE.Dr Cheema said the servile attitude of Mr Bhagwant Mann vis a vis Arvind Kejriwal had also harmed the interests of the State. He said recently Mr Mann boycotted the meeting of the Niti Aayog at the instance of his “boss” even though he knew doing so would be detrimental to the interests of Punjab. “Punjab lost an important opportunity to solicit funds for various departments as well as infrastructure projects”.Reminding Mr Mann that he was chief minister of Punjab and that his first loyalty should be to the State and the people who had elected him to office, Dr Cheema said “your first duty is to do your utmost to remove injustices being done to your State. You failed in this and continue to work like a dummy which will further harm Punjab in the coming days”.
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