Cong MLAs with public issues can attend sangat darshans: Sukhbir

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday said SAD will welcome only those Congress MLAs to sangat darshans who come to the gathering to discuss public issues.

He was speaking to mediapersons after laying the foundation of development works worth Rs 600 crore in Mansa. When asked about Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa’s statement that Congress will move the Punjab and Haryana High Court for closure of sangat darshan programmes by the chief minister,Sukhbir said: “The Congress leadership is adamant in misleading people on the SAD-BJP government’s development initiative… Bajwa has been forced to adopt its high command’s policy of not following development initiatives but create hindrances.”

Meanwhile,SAD spokesperson Professor Prem Singh Chandumajra on Monday claimed Bajwa’s statement has “removed the mask” from the Congress’ face. “The Congress doesn’t want Parkash Singh Badal to reach out to the masses,listen to their problems and solve them on the spot. By doing so,the CM was justifying his image of being a leader of the masses. The Congress knows what had happened with the earlier PPCC president due to inaccessibility…” he added.

On the issue of halted mining operations in the state,Badal alleged the Congress-led UPA government was deliberately creating scarcity of sand and gravels and artificially increasing the rates.