LIQUOR LOOT ON IN PUNJAB, SAYS MAJITHIA

CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former state minister Bikram Singh Majithia on Wednesday alleged that the Congress government in Punjab was in a state of open gang-warfare among leaders of the liquor mafia, holding high offices in the government.

“This is virtually bootleggers’ liquor lust and loot out in the open. It is shocking that while people are fighting for their lives, ministers and other Congressmen are losing their sleep not over finding solutions to their problems, but only over their share in liquor loot,” a statement from Majithia said.

Referring to the ongoing tussle between the ministers and the chief secretary in the state, Majithia added it was unprecedented that ministers had been accused of running massive illicit liquor cartels, by their own head of the civil service.

“The ministers must either resign immediately on moral grounds or be summarily dismissed on corruption charges,” he claimed, alleging that the ministers seemed to have launched a counter-attack on senior bureaucrats only to deflect public attention from the allegations of liquor loot.

“The ministers want to put the chief secretary on the defensive through political blackmail and public calumny. However, if there is substance in the allegations of either the chief secretary or the ministers, then the government must dare to act, and file and FIR against whichever side is prima facie guilty,” he said.

He added, “If the ministers have any principles, then instead of refusing to sit in cabinet meetings with the officer, they should show moral daring and resign from the cabinet, unless he is removed. They, however, won’t take this principled stand.”