Questioning the Aam Aadmi Party’s former leader’s motives in “instigating” legislators to quit over the Bargari issue, several Punjab Ministers on Sunday ridiculed the resignation “drama” of HS Phoolka as a stunt aimed at hogging public limelight amidst his dwindling political presence in the State.
Phoolka had on Saturday asked all MLAs, who had raised the Bargari issue in the Assembly, to resign.
The state Cabinet Ministers — Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Sukbinder Singh Sarkaria and Gurpreet Singh Kangar — lashed out at Phoolka for his “senseless and provocative demand” for the resignation of the legislators.
“If Phoolka is genuinely concerned about the issue and its implications, he should have returned the Padma Shri awarded to him by the very government which has pressurised the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into filing a closure report in the sensitive Bargari case, which every Sikh wanted to see ending in severe punishment for the perpetrators, said the Ministers, in a joint statement.
Resigning from the House and asking other MLAs to do the same was just an attempt by Phoolka to divert public attention away from the progress made by the Congress Government in the State to take the Bargari and related cases to their logical conclusion, they said.
Further, the fact that Congress legislators were freely raising their concerns and asking questions from their own Government showed the internal freedom allowed by the party and the respect accorded by the Capt Amarinder Singh government to the institution of the Vidhan Sabha, said the Ministers, adding that Phoolka obviously found it difficult to digest such transparency and openness in the Congress.The Ministers said that it was obvious that Phoolka wanted to gain political mileage from the sensitive religious issue of sacrilege, and did not want the people of Punjab to hear the truth about the progress made by the government in bringing the culprits to book.
“The fact is that, in sharp contrast to the previous SAD-BJP regime, the Congress Government has made significant progress in ensuring free, fair and impartial investigations in the Bargari and other related cases,” said the Ministers.
“What is more, the Congress Government is all set to challenge the CBI closure report in the Bargari case, which is quite evidently submitted under the Akali pressure,” said the Ministers adding that the Akalis had persistently tried to scuttle the probe into these incidents and had resorted to all kind of delaying tactics after handing over three Bargari related cases to the CBI, which was clearly a farce to hide its own wrongdoings in the matter.
The Ministers said that the “resignation drama” was just the latest in the long line of antics resorted to by the former AAP leader to build a public image as a proponent and protector of the interests of the Sikh community. “The people of Punjab had earlier seen through a similar game-plan of the Akalis and would easily see through Phoolka’s theatrics too,’ they added.