Quit as CM or shut down transport business: Amarinder tells Badal
Monday, 04/05/2015
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CHANDIGARH: Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday asked chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to resign or shut down their transport and other businesses, including the Orbit Aviations, as, he said, it was a clear case of conflict of interest.
“All these years, in a clear case of conflict of interest you have abused your position and multiplied your fleet of buses from 40 to 250 by threatening and bullying not only other private transporters, but also the PRTC and Punjab Roadways, into submission, which has eventually led to everybody except you suffering huge losses while you are making huge profits,” Amarinder told Badal in a public statement issued here.
Amarinder said he had resigned from the boards of directors of Ranbaxy, DLF Industrial Cables and Mount Shivalik Breweries at the time of becoming the chief minister in 2002, after seeking legal opinion.
Such stakes in business establishments, he said, amounted to conflict of interest for a chief minister since all these companies were based in and operated from Punjab.
The former chief minister also accused the Badals of forcibly grabbing most of the 250 route permits, and of actually plying about 500 buses on all profit-making routes in Punjab.
“No government official or the police can dare stop these buses as your conductors and drivers misbehave with officials and get away with it,” he told Badal, adding, “The Moga incident was the outcome of the same immunity from law you have provided to your erring and bullying drivers and conductors.”
He said the Orbit Aviations Limited had grabbed all profit-making routes from other transporters by threatening and bullying them physically and slapping false cases, if anybody refused, and left out the loss-making routes for them, the PRTC and Punjab Roadways.
“Otherwise why the PRTC and Punjab Roadways are making losses while Badals’ fleet is multiplying?” he asked.
