Who is ‘halqa’ incharge, Cong MLAs ask Akalis
Saturday, 19/03/2016
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CHANDIGARH: The opposition Congress on Friday took a dig at the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), seeking an explanation from the Akali-BJP government for non-elected SAD leaders known as ‘halqa’ incharge allegedly inaugurating government projects in the state.
“Who is ‘halqa’ incharge? What is his definition?” Congress MLA Surinder Dawar asked the treasury benches during the zero hour. Dawar said “the rejected men of the SAD are on a spree inaugurating government projects”.
Nobody from the ruling benches, in the presence of deputy chief minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, replied to the query, as Congress MLAs endorsed the question posed by their colleague.
Preneet Kaur of the Congress also sought the state government’s reply, accusing the SAD of authorising its each ‘halqa’ incharge across the state to recommend the issuance of “2,000 blue ration cards” meant for the poor. “This is a dangerous trend,” she said, alleging the misuse of official machinery and the system at the hands of the local SAD leaders. Congress’s Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa raised the law and order issue, highlighting incidents like the acid attack, the murder of a rape victim’s father and the double murder of a man and his son in Batala.
Randhawa alleged that the SHO concerned did not reach the spot where the accused men beat up the rape victim’s father to death. “The SHOs in my Dera Baba Nanak block are posted in their own areas and the DSP in the area is no exception,” he added. Randhawa then walked out of the House as speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal disallowed him to continue. The agitated Congress members also went into the well of the House, seeking the government’s reply on the law and order problem. Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal then assured the House that the accused held for the murder cases would be brought to trial.
