Sukhbir among 3 detained over protests against Punjab govt
CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal was on Tuesday detained while leading a protest outside Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s farmhouse at Siswan on the outskirts of Chandigarh.
Leading hundreds of party workers, Badal, the former deputy chief minister of Punjab, demanded the dismissal of state health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu and a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into alleged irregularities in the sale of vaccines and procurement of medical kits for Covid-19 patients.
The opposition party also demanded that land acquisition for national highways be done at market rates and displacement compensation be offered to the affected landowners, and the pending dues under the postmatric scholarship scheme for scheduled caste (SC) students be released at the earliest.
“If a storm rises, Captain (Amarinder Singh) will be unable to stop it. There is a scam in vaccination drive; there is a scam in the disbursal of Fateh Kits; there is a scam in scholarship for the SC community; and the land of farmers is also being acquired,” Badal said before being detained.
The CM rejected the opposition’s allegations on supply of vaccines as “politically motivated”. “The state government has not indulged in any wrongdoing. Quick and unusual decisions have to be taken in an emergency war-like situation. All protocols were strictly followed and emergency rules were invoked to meet the crisis,” Singh said in a statement.
Punjab Police also detained former state minister Bikram Singh Majithia and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state president Jasvir Singh Garhi near Siswan T-point, where barricades were put up. The Akali Dal workers were joined by BSP activists as the two parties have forged an alliance in the run up to the 2022 assembly elections.
Clashes broke out, and police resorted to the use of water cannons to disperse the protesters.
Addressing the protesters, Badal said, “Balbir Sidhu was responsible for the drug de-addiction tablet scam, PPE kit scam, vaccine scam and Fateh Kit scam; Sadhu Singh Dharamsot was responsible for SC scholarship scam; and Sukhjinder Randhawa had indulged in the seed scam.”