The Punjab Government on Friday saved its wicket by ducking the bouncer hurled by cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Hours before the BJP MP from Amritsar was to begin his fast-unto-death, the Government acceded to his demands. However, Sidhu insisted that in the absence of any official communication to him in this regard, he would observe the indefinite fast.
"I will not back out till the time I receive an official confirmation that the government has agreed to complete all projects in a stipulated timeframe….that is all I have been demanding. As of now, I am going to Hall Bazaar tomorrow at 11:30 am," Sidhu told The Pioneer.
Punjab Government's decision to buckle under pressure by Sidhu's announcement to resort to Satyagrah came after a day-long drama at Chandigarh and Amritsar.
As Sidhu announced his hunger strike in Amritsar, BJP's senior leadership, including State party affairs in-charge Shanta Kumar and State party chief Kamal Sharma went into huddle with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
later, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal held hours-long meeting with Kamal Sharma, State local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi and Amritsar Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora along with other senior government functionaries to review the status of the ongoing projects in Amritsar worth `730 crore. Besides, new projects of `1309 crore envisaged for the holy city were also discussed.
During the meeting, Sukhbir fixed the deadlines for all Amritsar development projects, including those raised by Sidhu. "Setting a time-frame for the completion of all projects is my only demand…I have no personal gain…what I am going to get out of this…I am doing all this for Amritsar only…this great city needs attention," said Sidhu.
After BJP national president's intervention in the matter and Badal's assertion that everything has been sorted out, Sidhu's decision not to go back to pavilion and observe fast-unto-death has not gone down well with both the alliance partners.
As Badal described three-time Amritsar MP's decision as "unfortunate and unwarranted", state BJP president Kamal Sharma has termed Sidhu's "extreme step" as "unfortunate".
"We had detailed discussion with the Chief Minister and later had a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister, and when Badal Saab has assured that all projects would be completed within a definite time-frame, , Sidhu should consider his decision," Kamal Sharma said while talking to The Pioneer.
He added that the Badals had said that there were some projects which were in the pipeline, and they would take time for completion.
After returning to his constituency after a long gap, Sidhu had declared a war of sorts against the SAD-BJP government on the issue of "scuttling" his developmental projects and "ignoring" him in taking important decisions.
Sidhu had emerged victorious in 2009 parliamentary polls with a narrow margin, and his performance during the past five years could be gauged from the fact that posters have been pasted in his constituency, offering reward for anyone giving information on "missing" Sidhu.
His claim of diversion of funds leading to non-completion of projects initiated by him, have been vehemently denied by the ruling combine.
Sidhu, in his press statement issued on Friday morning, stated "I know what my duties are towards the development of Amritsar, I being an elected Member of Parliament. I will do my duty honestly without criticising anybody and without speaking against anybody... I will sit on a fast-unto-death from tomorrow."
"Party president Rajnath Singh has directed me to remain silent. But my duty towards Amritsar would never be stopped…Everybody knows why I am going to take such an extreme step and how my five or six major development projects, including solid waste management, city bus service, multiple sport complex, expansion of Bhandari bridge were scuttled," he added.
Defending the State government, the Chief Minister's office on Friday evening circulated the details of each and every project raised by Sidhu.
Sukhbir fixes deadlines
Chandigarh: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Badal on Friday fixed deadlines for completion of all ongoing as well as new development projects in Amritsar and also reviewed their status at a high level meeting with State BJP president Kamal Sharma, local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi, Amritsar Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora and senior Government functionaries. During the meetings, the status of ongoing projects worth `730 crores as well as new projects worth `1,309 crore envisaged for the holy city. A total of `2,039 crore has been set aside for the holistic development of Amritsar.