Amarinder lashes out Congress over Maken's appointment
Darpan News Desk IANS, 07 Dec, 2021 12:22 PM
Chandigarh, Dec 7 (IANS) Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday lashed out at the Congress high command for appointing Ajay Maken as the Chairman of the screening committee for shortlisting candidates for the next Vidhan Sabha elections in Punjab.
In a statement here, Amarinder Singh said Maken is the nephew of (late) Lalit Maken, who was one of the main culprits of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi.
The Congress could not have nominated a worst person than Maken for the job as while on the one hand the Central government is moving ahead with prosecution of another culprit, Sajjan Kumar, while the Congress is rewarding the Makens and that too in Punjab, thus rubbing salt into Punjabis' wounds.
"The Congress party should have avoided naming someone like Maken, as the name itself draws derision and revulsion in Punjab for the involvement of his late uncle in the anti-Sikh riots where innocent victims were burnt alive to death," the former Chief Minister said.
He said even otherwise Maken was not qualified enough to head the screening committee with veteran leaders like Ambika Soni and Sunil Jakhar being kept under him.
Amarinder Singh said Maken had presided over the two successive defeats of the party in the Delhi assembly elections drawing back to back blank. "With someone who has presided over virtual wiping out of the party in Delhi, now being handed over the job in Punjab, the fate of the party can be anybody's guess," he remarked.
"After ensuring that the Congress got zero seats in two successive elections in Delhi in 2014 and 2019, he has now been dispatched to ensure that same feat is achieved in Punjab as well," Amarinder Singh said, adding this clearly indicates the party has admitted to defeat before the elections by appointing a failed politician, who lost 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, losing even his deposit in the Vidhan Sabha.
Addressing a public gathering here, Channi categorically said people are being unnecessarily harassed by the cable mafia by levying hefty charges which would not be tolerated anymore in future.
Hitting out at Navjot Singh Sidhu, the BJP on Monday said that Punjab Congress chief is creating unwarranted fears in the minds of farmers by suggesting that the Centre had plans to do away with the MSP system.
After literally turning a deaf ear to the farmers’ issues for over a year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, November 19, 2021, in a dramatic move, announced the withdrawal of the three controversial farm laws, which were at the heart of the farmers’ protests across the country.
Earlier, Dhesi sent a letter, signed by over 100 British MPs and Lords, to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the ongoing farmers' protests, asking him to raise this matter with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi when they next liaise.
The Chief Minister told the media here that for more than a year since the Central government had brought three agriculture laws for the benefit of farmers, especially small and marginal ones, unfortunately, some farmer unions had been protesting on the Delhi borders.
While the Centre's announcement to repeal three farm laws is seen as a political decision with eye on forthcoming assembly polls in five states, the BJP claims that it has nothing to do with elections as the party has won many states after laws were passed by the Parliament.
