Tewari
flays SAD-BJP govt for corruption
Ludhiana, 20 Dec.2008
Secretary All India Congress Committee as spokesman, Mananish Tewari
today lambasted the Shiromani Akali Dal-BHartiya Janata Party government
in the state for the rampant corruption prevailing in the administration.
He expressed surprise as how BJP was supporting the government while
its leaders were staging protests against the corrupt officers.
Addressing a series of meetings in different villages alongwith
the Kila Raipur MLA, Jassi Khangura, Tewari pointed out, it was
shameful for the government that the Deputy Speaker of the state
assembly is giving affidavit against the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana
for alleged corruption, yet no action was being taken against him.
He asked the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to come clean on
the issue. "It is a straight case, either his officer is corrupt
or the Deputy Speaker who belongs to his alliance party is wrong",
he pointed out, while aruging this was self explanatory and self
evident. He said, it was quite unprecedented and unheard of that
a senior leader belonging to the government was levelling corruption
charges on its own administration. This only reflected the state
of affairs.
Tewari said, the Akalis had always exploited the emotions and sentiments
of people and practically done nothing for anyone, be it the common
masses, the farmers, the workers or the urban people. He pointed
out, the infratstructure was in tatters and there were no investments
made anywhere. Instead of bringing more investors here, the SAD-BJP
government tried everything to ensure that those who had come or
had decided to invest in Punjab during the Congress rule were forced
to leave.
On the issue of electricity Tewari regretted that even when the
winter had dawned and there always used to be surplus power, the
power cuts were still a routine. "I wonder where has all this
electrcity gone", he said, while adding, the SAD-BJP government
lacked the vision to lead or govern a progressive state like Punjab.
He appealed to the people to ensure that the ruling alliance candidates
are made to bite the dust in the forthcoming parliamentary elections
which would mark the beginning of the end for this corrupt alliance.
Prominent among those present on the occasion included, Pritam Singh
Akhara, Ranjit Singh Mangat, SAtinder Jabbadi, Pawan Dewan and others.
Badal
has no interest of turban issue of France
it
was an international issue, it was the duty of the Prime Minister
to take up the matter
Chandigarh, Dec. 20, 2008
Sukhpal Singh Khaira,
MLA Bholath
The reaction of S. Prakash Singh Badal to my letter
written to him on the turban issue of France is extremely unfortunate
and highly condemnable. It has only confounded my fears that the
SAD and the SGPC, which are presently in the grip of the Badal family
offer mere lip service on issues related to the Sikh community.
The Akali's probably are only interested in the votes of Sikhs,
an art the senior Badal has perfected over the years of his public
life.
As stated earlier, I had demanded an emergency session of the Punjab
Vidhan Sabha to pass a unanimous resolution to support the cause
of Sikhs living in France on the issue of wearing turban and other
Sikh religious symbols such as 'Kara' and 'Kirpan'. Although it
was the duty of SAD to raise their voice on such vital issues, yet
an independent group of Sikhs by the name of United Sikhs has filed
a case before the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC)
in New York on December 15th. My aim to pass a resolution in the
assembly was to strengthen the case filed by United Sikhs at the
UNHRC and also to convey to the French Govt. the sentiments of 3
crore Punjabi's of our state.
Unfortunately Mr. Badal decided to skirt the issue by saying, that
since it was an international issue, it was the duty of the Prime
Minister to take up the matter. To remind Mr. Badal, Dr. Manmohan
Singh has already raised this issue with the French President Mr.
Sarkozy during his recent visit to France. My question to Mr. Badal
is, what have the SAD and SGPC done to support the Sikhs of France
on the turban issue? Why would the rest of India and states like
U.P, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh etc. support the cause to wear a turban
in France? What would Mr. Badal lose if we passed a resolution in
the Punjab Vidhan Sabha? The answer probably lies in the extremely
close ties that the Badal family have developed with the BJP and
the RSS, extreme fundamentalists Hindu organizations for his family's
personal political gains. Mr. Badal is too afraid to antagonize
these organizations in order to support his own community. By ignoring
such a vital issue related to our fraternity living in various parts
of the world Mr. Badal has once again demonstrated that he had failed
to achieve anything meaningful in his 50 years of political life,
it was a waste…..
Sukhpal Singh Khaira
MLA Bholath
Manish
Tewari flays govt for taxing people
Ludhiana, December 12, 2008
Secretary All India Congress Committee and spokesperson
Manish Tewari today flayed the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharitya Janata
Party government in the state for imposing various taxes on the
people. He said, the government was trying to overcome its economic
and financial failures by imposing and overburdening taxes on the
common people in the state.
In a statement issued here today, Tewari pointed out, the recent
decisions of the state government to impose luxury tax and the building
cess in the state only reflected the highly insensitive nature of
the government towards the common people. He argued, this would
hit the common man too hard.
The AICC secretary maintained that the SAD-BJP government in the
state had no vision as how to govern. He said, while the law and
order remained at its worst, the economic and financial position
of the state was too precarious at the verge of bankruptcy. He pointed
out, everybody knows that the state does not have sufficient funds
to pay the salaries to its employees. Now it is trying to rob the
common people by imposing overbearing taxes which were only heard
of during the colonial period.
He said, the state government has done nothing to generate revenue
for lasting economic health. He said, due to the wrong policies
of the government earnings of the government had fallen. He said,
the details available with him suggest that there was substantial
fall in the collection of stamp duty one of the main sources of
revenue. He regretted, while the individual people running the government
were getting richer, the government was getting poorer and common
people were being made to bear the brunt. (geom)
SAD-BJP
Govt. imposed New 1% cess on any new or old construction
suppress
the growth of Punjab
Chandigarh, Dec. 12, 2008
Sukhpal Singh Khaira,
MLA Bholath
The real anti people face of the SAD-BJP Govt. has
been exposed with imposition of new taxes on different segments
of the society. The Govt. has imposed a 1% cess on any new or old
construction activity above 10 Lac rupees. This amounts to further
suppressing the growth of Punjab in the already slowing down economy.
The rates of real estate have taken a severe beating ever since
the formation of this Govt. In the beginning the Govt. had imposed
heavy charges on the colonization business in Punjab, due to which
only corporate houses or big builders like DLF and Omaxe could benefit.
Now with this new 1% cess real estate business would further dip
in the state.
Similarly imposition of heavy 10% luxury tax on hotels and banquet
halls will further lead to decline in this industry too. It should
be remembered that there is already 12.36% service tax and 12.50%
VAT on this industry. With this new luxury tax the quantum of tax
on hotel and marriage palaces would shoot upto 35% which is unprecedented
and draconian. Levying of luxury tax on 5 Star Hotels could be understood
but forcing this tax upon small hotels and marriage palaces in the
state would ruin their economy. I call upon the hotel industry to
rise against this anti people step of the Govt.
As we are aware that the Govt. of India has reduced the prices
of Diesel by Rs. 2 and Petrol by Rs. 5, keeping in view the decline
of international prices of crude oil. Unfortunately the present
SAD-BJP Govt. has increased VAT on these items which would have
a direct bearing on our transport trade and agriculture of the State.
There is a complete financial mess in the State owing to poor
financial management by the Govt. Its coffers are empty, employees
are not getting their dues, but if one were to go by the sermons
of Sukhbir Badal who has been building castles in the air everyday,
it seems as if there is a lot of progress. Infact with new taxes
being levied, the Govt. has admitted to the fact that it is bankrupt
and has nothing to offer to the people besides cruelty in the shape
of taxes. Our steel industry of Gobindgarh is in a mess so is our
PSEB, therefore the Congress party demands that the Govt. immediately
withdraws all new taxes and that also a white paper be issued by
the Govt. on its present financial situation in the interest of
the people in Punjab.
Akali
Dal candidates fail to win any seats in Delhi elections
Chandigarh, Dec. 10, 2008
Sukhpal Singh Khaira,
MLA Bholath
The recent rout of the Akali's in Delhi assembly elections are
clear indication of the declining graph of SAD amongst the Sikhs
as well as Punjabi's. Delhi is a replica of Punjabi society in India.
While the Congress nominated five Sikhs and was able to secure victory
for all of them in Delhi, the Akali's failed to open an account
on the four seats contested by them. This is in fact reflection
of gross misrule delivered by the SAD-BJP government in Punjab.
The way the Badal family has monopolized Akali Dal by having more
than half dozen family relatives as Ministers in Punjab, it only
shows that the Badal's have bid goodbye to the Panthic agenda which
has been a major plank of Akali politics ever since its formation
in 1920.
The tall claims of Sukhbir Badal stand belied with complete washout
of the Akali's from Delhi. Even the alliance of SAD-BJP has been
rejected by the voters. BJP has now been perceived a party that
tows communal and divisive politics and also anti minorities. Their
role in the recent terror attacks has been one of weakening the
nation by questioning the integrity of ATS Chief Hemant Karkare
and others. Over all results of five states have in fact strengthened
the secular policies of the congress under Sonia Gandhi and Dr.
Manmohan Singh.
The writing on the wall is now clear for the Badal's in Punjab,
they would be completely routed and wiped out in the ensuing Lok
Sabha elections. The SAD-BJP government has not done an iota of
development in Punjab and has only resorted to muzzling the voice
of its opponents in the state. Thousands of false cases have been
registered against congressmen beginning with Capt. Amarinder Singh.
Local Panchayat and Municipal elections has been rigged with the
active support of police and Civil administration. Corruption is
rampant in the state, trades such as Transport, Mining and Cable
network have been hijacked by the Badal family. Under these circumstances
the electorates of Punjab are waiting for the Lok Sabha polls to
teach the Akali's a befitting lesson. I can now say with confidence
that the congress will trounce the SAD-BJP in all the 13 constituencies
of Punjab, including Bathinda the home of Badals.
The
recent terror attacks in Mumbai
Chandigarh, Dec. 03, 2008
Sukhpal Singh Khaira,
MLA Bholath
The recent terror attacks in Mumbai are a direct fall out of divisive
politics being vigorously pursued by the BJP and its frontal organizations
like the VHP, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Shiv Sena etc. India being a multi-religious
and multi-lingual State requires co-existence of all religious and
ethnic groups. Being statesmen politicians, leaders like Mahatma
Gandhi and Pandit Jawahar Lal had laid strong secular foundations
for India realizing the social fabric of our country. Unfortunately
the BJP in order to achieve political power, had from the very start,
raised the issue of Hindu fundamentalism and one religion one nation
theory. When the British left India in 1947 they had more or less
formed India in the present shape by annexing various princely states
of erstwhile India. Even after partition, Sh. Vallabhbhai Patel,
the then Home Minister and his Secretary, Sh. V. P. Menon, prepared
Draft Instrument of Accession in order to motivate over 500 princely
states such as Kashmir and Hyderabad each the size of a large European
country and smaller fiefdoms or Jagirs of a dozen or less villages.
The result of their endless efforts are the present map of India.
India was also reorganized on linguistic basis to allow all the
ethnic groups and minorities to live peacefully and enjoy freedom
to practice their respective religions. Like stated earlier, the
BJP embarked upon communal agenda in order to capture the seat of
Delhi. The flash point came when the Babri Masjid was demolished
in 1992, the seeds of hatred had been fully sown by then. From there
on there was no looking back, riots were politically sponsored in
different states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra etc. Minorities such
as Christians have been targeted recently in Orissa and Karnataka,
churches burnt and nuns raped, all this was being done in order
to consolidate the Hindu majority vote bank. Having tasted power
in 1999 the BJP launched the communal tirade through fundamentalist
leaders like Narinder Modi in Gujarat.
The recent involvement of Sadhvi Pragya in the bomb-blasts of
Malegaon and other places has thoroughly exposed the nefarious designs
of BJP. They went ahead to question the integrity of officers like
Shri Hemant Karkare, head of the ATS probing the terrorist connections
of Sadhvi and Col. Purohit. It was another matter that the BJP had
to hang its head in shame when Sh. Hemant Karkare and other brave
officers laid down their lives for the country. Even in the hour
of grave crises like the Mumbai terror attacks the Gujarat Chief
Minister had the audacity to question the integrity of Dr. Manmohan
Singh, Prime Minister and the Govt. Of India through a press conference
outside the Taj Hotel in Mumbai instead of showing solidarity with
the Government.
In case the BJP continues to choose the path of such communal
and divisive politics, they would be squarely responsible for such
attacks in future. The need of the hour is to put our heads together
and be one as a nation and find ways and means to tackle the menace
of this new world phenomenon of terrorism. At the same time, the
Congress also warns Pakistan of promoting terrorism in India through
their organized terror camps. They must immediately shut down these
camps and hand over those terrorists responsible for heinous crimes
against India to our country.
All political parties must follow the secular policies laid down
by Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and allow peaceful
coexistence of all religions and communities of our great country.
We must all fight terrorism and the communal policies of enemies
within our system and also those sowing the seeds from across our
international borders. Congress party pays its heartfelt tributes
to all those killed in Mumbai and salutes brave officers and Jawans
of our security forces who have laid down their lives for the unity
and integrity of India.

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