Perneet Singh & Gurbax Puri
Tarn Taran, October 21. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today lashed out at the Congress-led UPA government “for hurting the sentiments of Sikhs” by deliberately delaying the permission for holding the first session of newly elected SGPC.
Interacting with mediapersons after inaugurating the newly constructed University College at the cost of Rs 10.47 crore here, the CM alleged that the Congress was interfering in the religious matters of the Sikhs which was not tolerable. He said earlier the Congress had delayed the SGPC elections by around two years and now it was not convening the first meeting of the newly elected body, resulting in a delay in the election of new executives of the “Parliament of Sikhs”.
“We vehemently oppose these tactics of the Congress,” he added.
Slamming the Sanjha Morcha formed by former finance minister Manpreet Badal and former CM Surjit Singh Barnala along with the Left parties, Badal said the Morcha had no standing in the state and would be routed in the forthcoming assembly elections. He said the fate of the Congress and its entire leadership of the state “which is supporting this Morcha in a covert manner” would also be the same.
“The Sanjha Morcha is, in fact, a pack of power-starved opportunists and I have full faith that the wise voters of Punjab would teach these people a lesson similar to the one taught to the Panthic Morcha in the recently held SGPC elections,” he added. According to him, the Sanjha Morcha “is directionless alliance with neither any ideology nor any mass base”.
On the possibility of SAD expanding its alliance, the Chief Minister reiterated that the SAD would welcome any such alliance which aims to defeat the Congress. When asked whether it may also forge an alliance with the BSP, he said, “We are open to joining hands with anybody who wants to defeat the Congress”.
Badal said the SAD-BJP regime had laid special emphasis to impart quality education to the students in the far flung areas of the border regions. “For the first time in the history of the state, we have constituted a separate cadre of teachers for both regions so that the meritorious students of these areas could contribute in the spreading of quality education”.
The CM also laid the foundation stone of Baba Farid University Regional Centre at Sri Goindwal Sahib. Earlier, he also inaugurated Government Adarsh Secondary School at Baler Khurd village and a model school at Valtoha. He also inaugurated a power station at Algon village, which has been upgraded from 66 KW to 220 KW.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111022/punjab.htm#17
