Road rage case: ‘CM doesn’t want other ministers to be more powerful than him’

AMRITSAR :LEADER of opposition in the Punjab assembly and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Bholath Sukhpal Singh Khaira said here on Saturday that Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh does not want any other Congress minister to be more powerful than him in the state and this is the reason behind the state government’s opposing its local bodies and tourism minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s plea to overturn his conviction in the 1998 road rage case in the Supreme Court.

In the case, a man had died, allegedly after being beaten up by the cricketer-turned-politician and his friend Rupinder Singh Sandhu, 30 years ago. The trial court had acquitted Sidhu, whereas the Punjab and Haryana HC reversed his acquittal

Khaira, here on a personal visit, said, “Amarinder is working on double standards. He has argued that the state government could not backtrack from its 30-year-old stand in the road rage case against Sidhu. Then why the VB changed its stand in cases relating to the Ludhiana City Centre and Amritsar Improvement Trust scams and termed Captain as innocent.”

AMARINDER PLAYING POLITICS: BIR DEVINDER

Former deputy speaker of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Bir Devinder Singh said, “Due to political bargain between the Badals and Amarinder, the vigilance and the prosecution agency has taken u-turn. It is better for the CM not to bring into play the morality and ethics in taking the position against Sidhu.”