Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal on Thursday declared that in case the ‘goonda tax’ was not stopped by the Congress MlAs, his party would not shy away from staging a massive protest against this.
“The MlAs are interfering in the affairs of the development of Bathinda refinery project that is being executed by various construction companies. Congress MlAs are harassing contractors by imposing gunda tax,” alleged Sukhbir while talking about the imposition of “goonda tax” on transportation of goods to and from Bathinda refinery.
Sukhbir urged the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to stop his MlAs from imposing gunda tax or else Punjab will have a bad reputation and suffer major consequences. “We will appeal to the DC and SSP to get the refinery in Bathinda rid of gunda tax, but if still they continue, Akali Dal will not shy away from protesting,” he said.
He said that this protection money or gunda tax “should be called JST — Jojo Service Tax — after Jojo, the brother-in-law of Manpreet, who is leading the cartel of Congressmen demanding this unlawful tax from transporters. It is being done under the protection of the Finance Minister.
Stating that he spoke with the Deputy Commissioner regarding the gunda tax, Sukhbir said: “We will not let the refinery go in losses or suffer in any way, because if the investment is lost and the contractors are harassed, it will come across as a major setback to Punjab.”