Against the backdrop of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa targeting the Capt Amarinder Singh government on the Hooch tragedy, Punjab government on Saturday decided to withdraw the state police security given to him, citing he virtually faced no threat.
The decision has come days after Bajwa and another Congress Rajya Sabha MP, Shamsher Singh Dullo, sought a probe by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate into the alleged illegal liquor trade in the state following the hooch tragedy that claimed over 100 lives. As knives are drawn in the factional fight, the state Congress unit on Friday had written to its central high command recommending their expulsion for anti-party activities.
Bajwa on the other hand demanded immediate removal of Capt Amarinder Singh and Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar “in the interest of the party” and said, “If the CM and state chief are not removed, the party will be obliterated in Punjab.”
An official spokesperson here said, “The Punjab government has decided to withdraw the state police security from Congress MP Pratap Singh Bajwa after an assessment showed that he had virtually no threat perception and was, in any case, now getting the central security directly accorded to him by the Union Home Ministry.” The state police security provided to Bajwa had become redundant since he had procured personal security directly from Home Minister Amit Shah, the spokesperson said.
A mixed security component was, in any case, not considered good, particularly when the Rajya Sabha MP had, by opting for central security, showed that he had no faith in the state police, the official added. In fact, the Union Home Ministry had not even consulted the state government to gauge the threat perception, which is usually done before providing central security to any person, said the spokesperson.
Bajwa was given Z Category security by the Ministry of Home Affairs on March 19 and as of date has 25 CISF personnel for
personal security, house protection and escort, besides two escort drivers.
Till March 23, he had 14 Punjab Police personnel protecting him but a few were withdrawn for coronavirus duties. Currently, Bajwa in his security cover has six Punjab Police personnel and an escort with driver, which are now being withdrawn, said the spokesperson.
BAJWA AGAIN ATTACKS GOVERNMENT
Bajwa on Saturday once again demanded a CBI probe into the hooch tragedy in Punjab which has so far claimed 121 lives and also favoured changing the leadership of his party’s government.
Talking to reporters in Amritsar, he said chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh has Excise and Taxation, Home and Police departments under him, still fingers are being raised at the Excise department. “If justice has to be given to the 121 people who have died in the hooch tragedy then an investigation should be done by the CBI or the Enforcement Directorate (ED),” he said.
Bajwa alleged that the mining, liquor, cable, drugs and transport mafias, which came into existence during the rule of the Badals, are thriving under Capt Amarinder Singh’s government. “If the future of the Congress has to be safeguarded then we need to change the leadership in the state,” he added.
After Punjab Congress Chief Sunil Jakhar sought strict action against party MPs Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo, the entire Punjab Cabinet also pitched in for the duo’s expulsion for their “anti-party and anti-government activities”, which they termed as “gross indiscipline”. The Cabinet Ministers, in a joint statement, called for cracking the whip on the two MPs without any laxity or delay. Indiscipline cannot be tolerated at any time, least of all when Assembly elections are less than two years away, they said, pointing to the MPs’ repeated attacks on the state government, including the Chief Minister. Questioning their move of airing concerns about the hooch tragedy, the Ministers said these two MPs had never, during their Rajya Sabha term, bothered to raise any issue of interest to the state they represent.