Jakhar to write to Sonia for strict action against Bajwa, Dullo

CHANDIGARH: A day after two Congress Rajya Sabha MPs, Partap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo met Punjab Governor to demand a CBI probe into the hooch tragedy, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar on Tuesday said he will be writing to party President Sonia Gandhi to seek action against the “brazen indiscipline” of the two MPs for attacking their own government.
Such tragedies do not give license to any individual to indulge in indiscipline. It was time to stem the rot and save the Congress from the petty machinations of the likes of Bajwa and Dullo, who had no shame in biting the hand that feeds them, stressed Jakhar, adding “ye jis thali mein khatey hain ussi mein chhed kartey hain!” He said he would seek strict action against the two MPs who were “disgracefully exploiting” a tragedy to further their own political ambitions and interests.
Asserting that the actions of Bajwa and Dullo could not be tolerated any longer, Jakhar said men like these, who did not have even the courage to face elections, were no asset to the party. Such back-stabbing members should be shown the door before they can cause any serious damage, said Jakhar, adding that enough is enough now and he is going to clearly demand serious action against them from the party president.
Jakhar described the action of the two MPs, who had approached the Governor to demand CBI and Enforcement Department (ED) probe into the liquor deaths, as a manifestation of their desperate desire to grab the high seat of power by hook or by crook. “How many times in all these years did they ask for expediting the CBI inquiry into the sacrilege cases (which has since been taken over by Punjab Police) or the ED probe into drugs, launched during the erstwhile SAD-BJP government?” he asked.
Pointing out that Bajwa and Dullo had been engaging in such anti-party activities for quite some time by talking against their own party and targeting the Congress government in Punjab, Jakhar said their attacks had increased after chief minister Amarinder Singh announced his decision to contest the 2022 elections.
The gross indiscipline of the two has shown that there was no guarantee that they will stand with the party in the Rajya Sabha on key issues, Sunil Jakhar said. The PPCC president pointed out that the two MPs were surviving politically only due to the largesse of the Congress high command, which had nominated them to the Rajya Sabha since they had run scared from contesting Assembly or parliamentary elections. In fact, he recalled that Rahul Gandhi had helped Bajwa by making him PCC president in the face of opposition, but his betrayal of Rahul’s and the party’s trust had exposed his petty political ambitions which he was bent on pursuing to the detriment of the Congress itself.
Jakhar described the attack of the two MPs on their own government as a `copy-paste job’ of what happened in Rajasthan in January, in the wake of 107 infant deaths over which Sachin Pilot had flayed his own government. Had action been taken against Pilot then itself, what is happening today in Rajasthan could have been avoided, he said, adding that he will bring to Sonia’s notice the dangers of letting Bajwa and Dullo get away with their detestable act of expressing their dissent not in the party forum but in public.
Having probably seen the 2022 polls as their last chance to make it big in the corridors of power, the duo saw their hopes shattered and, out of sheer frustration, were knocking at all possible doors to sneak their way to the top echelons of power, he added, citing rumours of the two MPs being in touch with the BJP.
Dismissing as completely hollow the concerns expressed by Bajwa and Dullo, Jakhar rejected their claim of giving voice to the people of Punjab by taking the issue of the hooch tragedy to the Governor. The two had not once raised any issue of Punjab’s interest at any forum worth mentioning, he said, pointing out that they were sent to the Rajya Sabha to represent Punjab but had not spoken there on a single issue. From SYL to Grant for Punjab, GST refunds, Covid aid and the most recent anti-farmer ordinances, the two MPs had studiously chosen to keep quiet in the Upper House.