Punjab ministers flay Badal's statement

Chandigarh, Apr 3 (UNI) Punjab ministers Partap Singh Bajwa, Avtar Henry, Amarjit Singh Samra, Jasjit Singh Randhawa, Ch Jagjit Singh, Lal Singh, Sardool Singh and Surinder Singla today took a strong exception to the press statement made by Shiromani Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal in which he made a scathing attack on the functioning of the Amarinder Singh government.

In a joint statement issued here, these ministers said it was unbecoming of a seasoned politician like Mr Badal who falsely accused the present government of having a political vendetta against the Akalis.

They cautioned Mr Badal to abstain from making such statements and added that issuing such statements would not help Mr Badal to come to power again in the state.

Lambasting Mr Badal by pointing out his involvement in various corruption cases, they said had Mr Badal been innocent and shown respect to the judiciary he would have faced the trial and should not have gone to Supreme Court to stall the trial proceedings against him in the lower courts.

''By doing so Badal had deliberately evaded the trial knowing the fact fully that he was guilty and will be convicted as per the law of land,'' these ministers stated.

These ministers alleged that Mr Badal and his family were neck deep in corruption and exploited the religious sentiments of the people in the name of 'Panth' and tried to woo the voters.

They said strong winds were blowing in favour of Congress to wipe out the Akalis from the scene and added that the day was not far when Mr Badal and his fellow Akali leaders would face crushing defeat at the hands of the Congress during the state assembly elections.

UNI PS SC RAI2051