chief
Prime VIP
CM Parkash Singh Badal and Prem Singh Chandumajra at a rally in Samana on Thursday.
Samana (Patiala), June 24
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked the Congress not to meddle in religious matters of the Sikhs. He said the Congress is trying to capture the control of the SGPC through its “B” team, comprising Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Paramjit Singh Sarna and SAD Amritsar president Simaranjit Singh Mann.
“It is not surprising, but ironical that the Congress that claims to be a secular party, is deliberately encroaching upon the jurisdiction of the Sikh religious matters by indirectly lending support to Sarna and company in the forthcoming SGPC elections,” said Badal, while addressing a public rally at Samana grain market, after laying the foundation stones of several development projects worth Rs 12 crores, here today.
Badal further said the then Congress government at the Centre betrayed Punjabis by backtracking on the Rajiv-Longowal accord duly passed in the Parliament. He added that role of the Congress government in Haryana on the issue of having a separate Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee for the state at the behest of the Centre is highly condemnable.
“The Congress should refrain from such nefarious designs, with a sole ulterior motive to sow the seeds of hatred and communal tension amongst the peace loving people of Punjab and its neighbouring state,” he said.
Badal categorically said the Congress could not befool the people of Punjab, especially the Sikhs, for its dubious role in delivering justice to them on various issues, be it agriculture and industrial growth, settlement of contentious political issues, including river waters dispute, transfer of Chandigarh and Punjabi speaking areas to Punjab.
The CM stated that the Congress never bothered to make a substantial hike in MSP in view of ever-increasing costs of agricultural inputs, including diesel, fertilisers and pesticides.
Later, speaking to mediapersons, Badal said issue pertaining to rationalisation of VAT on petrol and diesel would automatically be taken care of with the implementation of the General Sales Tax Act from April 1, 2011.
Referring to the matter of illegal possession of shamlat land in the state, Badal said the government would soon announce a policy to rationalise the disposal of shamlat land to the best of use.
Referring to the comprehensive plan to check river-water pollution in the Sirhind Canal, Beas and Satluj flowing in the state, he said an ambitious programme of Rs 2,891 crore has been finalised for cleaning of these rivers.
