Wordsmith Badal dodges many questions

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was at his evasive best during a well-attended press conference on Wednesday.

When asked why the Punjab Government had reduced the quantity of atta and dal that is being given to the poor,he said eating little was good for health. “After doctors advised me to reduce my diet,I lost five kilograms,and now I feel fitter than before,” he grinned like a Cheshire cat.When told that there was a difference between the diet of a CM and a labourer,he looked the other way.

Questions on subsidy were also ignored as catcalls from the peanut gallery. And when asked to comment on austerity measures being taken by the state Government,he trained his gun of ridicule at Rahul Gandhi. “I used to travel in a tonga at his (Rahul’s) age,” the CM chuckled,pooh-poohing the “so-called austerity drive” of the UPA.

He turned a bit serious later and said his going in a train could not save enough money to feed the poor and give jobs to the unemployed.

When asked why was he showing off an award by a magazine,he said,”Why shouldn’t I? After all I have passed with first division.” When a scribe asked him to give an explanation for the politics of vendetta being allegedly pursued by the SAD-BJP Government,he said everyone has feet of clay,and “my only fault is I don’t indulge in vendetta”.

Getting wittier on vendetta,he said when he visited Faridkot for Baba Sheikh Farid Agman Purb,the shabad being recited in the gurdwara said,Farida bure da bhala kar (Farid,do good to evil).

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram