Ludhiana MLAs in tow, Bajwa accuses party secy of ‘inciting’ communal tension
Saturday, 06/06/2015
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CHANDIGARH: Flanked by three Ludhiana MLAs, Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday accused party secretary Parminder Mehta from Ludhiana of “inciting” communal tension in the state.
Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa flanked by party legislators Surinder Dawar (left) and Rakesh Pandey during a press conference in Chandigarh on Friday.
Addressing the media at the Congress Bhawan here, Bajwa said Mehta had been suspended from the party on Thursday evening as his “inflammatory” posts on social media had hurt the sentiments of Sikhs throughout the world.
“The Congress has no place for such people. There seems to be a design of some agency behind the statements of Mehta. He has spoken without provocation and the social media is on fire against him. I want to assure Sikhs throughout the world that our party is secular to the core and respects all religions,” Bajwa said. He was accompanied by Ludhiana MLAs Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Rakesh Pandey and Surinder Dawar.
Soon after the press conference, Mehta hit back at Bajwa for “targeting him” for supporting Bajwa’s bete noire, deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Capt Amarinder Singh. “Our families had been affected by terrorism in Punjab. When posters of slain Sikh radical leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale came up in Ludhiana, we removed them and then Bajwa patted us for doing so. My family and I visit the gurdwara daily. How can I or my nephew write derogatory words about the Sikh gurus? I have lodged a complaint with police and administration that our Facebook and Whatsapp accounts have been hacked. They are probing the matter. I am a former councillor of Ludhiana and my wife is a sitting councillor. Our association with the Congress is 30 years old. We are being targeted by Congressmen opposed to former Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari,” Mehta told HT.
‘GIVE LAND TO IIM AT PATHANKOT’
Accusing Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal of deliberately offering sites that would be disapproved by the central government for setting up premier institutes in Punjab, Partap Bajwa demanded that the proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) should come up at Pathankot where nearly 400 acres of government land is lying vacant.
