Cong MLA demands dismissal of Punjab minister

Phagwara, May 23: A Congress MLA on Sunday, May 22, demanded the immediate dismissal of Punjab minister, Tikshan Sud from the Parkash Singh Badal ministry over the allegation of illegally felling two lakh trees.

The Minister of Local Bodies has to resign to ensure that there is a free and fair probe into the allegations levelled against him by a forest officer, Sukhpal Singh Khaira said.

The MLA also dared the Punjab vigilance bureau to register a criminal case against the minister.

He termed the arrest of Satinder Singh Manta, a close associate of Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal's brother Gurdas Badal, as "political vendetta" by the ruling clique.

Manta was arrested by a Vigilance Bureau team on Saturday, May 21, from his house in Rodanwali village in Bathinda district.

"The Vigilance Bureau has become a handy tool of the Badals for this purpose and is working as a private army unleashed against the political opponents," Khaira alleged.

He asked the Vigilance to justify the arrest of Manta on the basis of allegations by a villager for embezzlement of funds in construction and felling of trees, but turning a blind eye towards the charges levelled on Sud by a forest officer who also had a CD to back his claim.

"Congress also urges the Chief Minister to reign in the Vigilance Bureau and not to misuse it for political vendetta as alleged by none other than the brother of the CM himself," Khaira said.

PTI