Bajwa begins hunger strike for CBI probe

Monday, 20/01/2014

http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=92233&boxid=57929&uid=&dat=2014-01-20

Chandigarh : Beginning the second phase of his party’s multi-layered agitation to press for a CBI inquiry into the drug racket busted by Punjab Police recently, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa, along with the first batch of senior party leaders, sat on a hunger strike at the Congress Bhawan in Sector 15 here on Sunday.

Hitting back, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said the Punjab Congress had fallen back on holding a sham in-house hunger strike after the people of the state resolutely rejected Bajwa’s decision to take support of a dreaded druglord to attack the SAD-BJP government.

Former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Lal Singh, Kewal Singh Dhillon, Tarlochan Singh Soond, Joginder Singh Punjgrain, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Gurcharan Singh Boparai, Navtej Cheema, Sukhjinder Randhawa, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu and Balbir Sidhu (all MLAs) also joined Bajwa in the hunger strike and extended full support to the fight against the drug mafia.

Addressing the party workers, Bajwa said the Congress party would intensify the agitation if a CBI probe was not ordered. He said the Congress was using peaceful and democratic methods to shake the conscience of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. He said that he had earlier on January 8 written a letter to the Chief Minister to take action against ministers suspected to be involved in drug trafficking.

Bajwa said that Jagdish Singh alias Bhola, main accused in the drug racket, had made serious allegations, which needed to be probed. He said that earlier police had arrested Manjinder Singh Aulakh and Jagjit Singh Chahal.

The PPCC president said that instead of seeking an apology from the people of Punjab and taking action against key operators of the drug trade, Badal had been using government machinery and legal system to protect the suspects.

Bajwa said the chain hunger strike started by the Congress party would continue till the whole drug racket was exposed and culprits brought to book. He said that every day party leaders, including MLAs and DCC presidents from two Assembly constituencies, would sit on a hunger strike.

In the evening, a candle march would be held in Sector 17 plaza.

Others who sat on a hunger strike along with Bajwa included Ashwani Sekhri, Kuljit Singh Nagra, Randeep Singh Nabha, Surinderpal Singh Sibia, Sukhjinder Raj Singh Majithia, Raj Kumar Chhabewal, Lakhwinder Kaur Garcha, Ramesh Singla, Rajanbir Singh and Anoop Bhullar.

Terming the hunger strike a “photo opportunity” to keep himself in the news, SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema and general secretary Sharanjit Singh Dhillon said it was ironic that Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa, who had launched an agitation programme with much fanfare recently, had fallen back on an in-house hunger strike in the comfort of the party office here.

“Bajwa has seen the fate of the ‘chakka jam’ programme held recently, which saw uninterrupted movement of traffic across the state even as his few henchmen went in for symbolic protests to please their boss,” the SAD leaders said. They said this was the main reason why the PPCC chief had diluted his agitation programme and had decided to release “well-calibrated photographs for dispatch to the party high command to show that an agitation was in progress when nothing existed on the ground”.