Citing conflict of interest, the Congress Deputy leader in lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday said that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal should either resign or shut down his transport and other businesses, days after death of a girl after being shoved off from a bus owned by the ruling family. Former Chief Minister alleged that number of Badal family-owned buses has increased from 40 to 250 since they came to power and they threatened into submission all other transporters as well as Punjab Roadways.
“All these years, in a clear case of conflict of interest, you have brutally abused your position and power and multiplied your fleet of buses from 40 to 250 by threatening and bullying not only other private transporters, but also the PRTC (Pepsu Road Transport Corporation) and Punjab Roadways into submission,” said Capt Amarinder.
“It has eventually led to everybody except you suffering huge losses while you are making huge profits,” he told Badal in a statement. The senior Congress leader claimed that when he became chief minister of Punjab in 2002, he was among the Board of Directors of some companies like Ranbaxy, DlF Industrial Cables and Mount Shivalik Breweries. “I resigned from all the companies after seeking a legal opinion from the Punjab Advocate General, who told me that this amounted to conflict of interest since all these companies are based in and operating from Punjab,” he said.
Capt Amarinder alleged that while the Badals have grabbed about 250 route permits, most of these forcibly, they were actually plying about 500 buses on all the profit making routes. “No Government official or the police can dare to stop these buses as your conductors and drivers misbehave with officials and get away with it,” he said adding, “the Moga incident was the outcome of the same immunity from law you have provided to your erring and bullying drivers and conductors”.
He said that abusing their power, the Orbit Aviations limited has grabbed all the profit making routes from other transporters by threatening and bullying them physically and slapping false cases if anybody refused and left out the loss making routes for them and the PRTC and Punjab Roadways. “Otherwise, why the PRTC and Punjab Roadways and other transporters are making losses while Badals' fleet is multiplyingIJ” he asked.
JAKHAR SlAMS Amit SHAH FOR ‘IGNORING’ MOGA INCIDENT
Congress legislative Party leader Sunil Jakhar on Sunday criticised the BJP president Amit Shah for not taking notice of the shocking Moga incident during his Punjab visit. “The incident has shocked not only the state and but is also widely condemned across the country. Surprisingly the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which claims to be saviour of women’s safety, did not find it fit to utter a single word over the death and concentrated only on boosting the morale of party cadre,” said Jakhar.
Slamming the BJP leadership over its studded silence over the Moga incident, Jakhar said that it indicates that the BJP is anti-dalit, anti-poor and musters power to upkeep interests of the mighty businessmen in different sectors. “The temporary withdrawal of a few buses is an attempt to dilute the public outrage for few days. This is not going to put an end to the horror on wheels which panicked people across the State. All the services of the buses owned, directly or indirectly, by Badal family should be banned,” he demanded.
Jakhar, referring to the reports which indicate “behind the curtain attempts” being made to silence the affected family by offering compensation to the tune of Rs20 lakh, said: “It needs to be clarified whether the amount will be paid from the state exchequer or by the erring transport company.” “The State has announced Rstwo lakh compensation to kin of farmers who had committed suicides, only Rsone lakh was paid after protests. let the government also clarify whether such compensation will also be applicable if other transport companies were held responsible for such unfortunate incidents in future,” he said.
BlACK ‘BADAlS’ OF FEAR AND INSECURITY HOVER OVER PUNJAB: TEWARI
Expressing grave concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab and the molestation and murder of a young girl in a bus, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Manish Tewari on Sunday said that there was feeling of fear and insecurity prevailing among people everywhere in the State. “The black badals (clouds) of fear and insecurity are hovering over the horizon across Punjab…Nobody is feeling safe and the unfortunate thing is that the government is not concerned at all,” he said.
He said, what happened in Moga was the outcome of the deteriorating law and order situation as the criminals have no fear of law. He pointed out that heinous crimes were being committed in Punjab with all impunity with no fear of law anywhere as the Akali-BJP alliance appears to have abdicated all the responsibility. “The situation has reached a flashpoint and people of Punjab are feeling restive and restless…It is high time for the government to act or leave as otherwise Punjab is doomed into anarchy,” he warned.
INCIDENT HAS BROKEN PUNJAB’S HEART: MANPREET badal
People's Party of Punjab (PPP) chief Manpreet Badal, who met the victim’s family on Sunday, said that the incident has broken the heart of Punjab. “This incident has broken the heart of Punjab. It raises a question as to what is this society that we are living in, where such criminals are roaming freeIJ” said Manpreet.