Bajwa: Cong ‘white paper’ on lawlessness, finances

Friday, 12/04/2013

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Jalandhar : Attacking the ruling SAD-BJP government against its “anti-people policies”, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Partap Singh Bajwa on Thursday said that the Congress would issue a “white paper” on the prevailing lawlessness and poor financial condition of the state in the coming days.

Bajwa said that he would present the “white paper” before the Governor of Punjab Shivraj V Patil and President Pranab Mukherjee. He also said that he would apprise them about the complete anarchy prevailing in the state, as regards the law and order and dwindling financial status. “I would take all the Congress MPs from Punjab to meet the Prime Minster Manmohan Singh and Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in this regard,” he added.

He shared these thoughts while reacting sharply to the 9 per cent power hike announced by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) on Wednesday. Bajwa while demanding a ‘roll back’ of the tariff said that he would hold an ‘emergency meeting’ of the party to oppose the power hike. Bajwa also highlighted that the PPCC would also explore the option of approaching the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the power tariff hike.

“Is the government not aware that any fresh tax or hike has to be discussed before being imposed on the public? We will discuss all these in the meeting on Friday,” he highlighted

‘Congress always behind Dalits’

Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa on Thursday said the Dalit voters were never alienated from the Congress and that if there was any party, which supported the cause of Dalits, it was Congress.

Bajwa said this when he was told that the PPCC vice-president and zonal in-charge of Doaba Tarlochan Singh Sondh had recently commented that the Dalit vote-bank had eroded.

Recently, Sondh during his maiden interaction with the media in Jalandhar had said that the PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa’s rally on April 14 in Jalandhar on the occasion of Dr BR Ambedkar Jayanti would see Dalits from the Doaba region together, as they had been alienated with the Congress.

This would be the last rally of the PPCC chief in the series of the district tour programme undertaken by him in 13 districts of Punjab.

Talking to Daily Post, Bajwa completely differed from Sondh and said, “Dalits had never left the Congress fold. If Sondh had made such a statement, this must be his personal observation. But, I completely differ from what he said about the Dalit voters”.

“There is no such issue of eroding Dalit vote-bank. The Congress has always remained the voice of Dalits and it would continue to remain so. If Dalits had left us, how come we have a senior congress leader Mohinder Singh Kaypee as the Jalandhar MP, which is a reserved seat”, he maintained.

Bajwa added that as far as the Congress workers’ meet on Ambedkar Jayanti was concerned, it was an occasion to honour the chief architect of the Indian constitution.