Bajwa claims many Akali leaders set to join Congress
Monday, 25/11/2013
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131125/punjab.htm#8
Zira : Several senior Akali leaders, including former ministers and MPs, who were "feeling suffocated in the party due to autocratic ways of the Badals would soon join the Congress," claimed PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa while kicking off the third phase of his mass contact programme from Zira today.
He said: "They will be inducted into the party at an appropriate time keeping in view the Lok Sabha elections". Bajwa rubbished the claim by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal that Punjab would become power surplus with inauguration of the Talwandi Sabo thermal plant.
He alleged: "Sukhbir has mastered the art of telling lies. The plant will only be running at 30 per cent of its total capacity of 1900 MW. Electricity produced by it will be 25 per cent costlier than other thermal plants".
Bajwa said the Talwandi Sabo and Rajpura thermal plants were owned by private companies and the state government had not imposed any ceiling on power tariff to be charged by them.
Alleging that the SAD leadership had been exposed in the multi-crore drug racket, Bajwa said he had urged the Union Home Minister to ask the Narcotics Control Bureau to take over investigations.
The PPCC chief said Badal should wind up his Sangat Darshan programme which was nothing more than "a political stunt".
On the recent statements by former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, Bajwa said he (Capt) was like an elder brother who could advise him on any matter.
Former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal alleged that Punjab was not in safe hands as the Badals were bent on mopping up all the resources of the state.
Others who spoke on the occasion included MLAs Rana Gurmeet Sodhi and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and leaders Inderjit Singh Zeera, Jasbir Singh Dimpa and Hans Raj Josan.
