Book Badal, Saini in 15 days or I will quit as MLA, says Phoolka

: After supporting the Congress in its attack on the Akalis during the debate on the Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) Commission report, Aam Aadmi Party leader HS Phoolka on Saturday turned the tables on the ruling party by demanding that the five Congress ministers, who sought action against former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini be tried for police Kotkapura firing during the debate in the Punjab assembly, should either get the government to name Badal and Saini in the FIR in 15 days or resign.

If not, he declared to quit as the Dakha MLA.

“The Congress is just going after political gains. It does not want to take action against those indicted in the report. But Punjabis want justice and action against the culprits. The ministers must have given the speeches after reading the report. Whenever I raised the demand in the House that Badal and Saini be named in the FIR, I was assured that the CM would announce it in his speech. But the CM made no such declaration. If they cannot make the CM do so, they have no right to stay as ministers,” Phoolka said while addressing a press conference here.

He said he will quit along with ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Manpreet Singh Badal, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sukhjinder Randhawa and Charanjit Singh Channi if the CM does not listen to them. “I will quit after 15 days, even if they (ministers) don’t,” he said. Phoolka, who has been fighting cases of 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims in the SC, said his stand is personal.

The ministers dismissed Phoolka’s challenge. “Is he (Phoolka) our high command? The government has decided to take back the cases from the CBI and form a SIT. There is a process,” Bajwa said.

Randhawa asked how can the government register a case against them without probing their role. “If we do, they will challenge it in the court and get bail,” he said.

Sidhu said the report says Saini and Badal spoke before the firing. “This needs to be probed further. How can Phoolka set a deadline?” he questioned.

The ministers assured that the CM would announce it in his speech. If they cannot make the CM do so, they have no right to stay as ministers

HS PHOOLKA , AAP leader