Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 7
A day after snub by Capt Amarinder Singh for “shooting” off a letter to him seeking district status for Batala, rebel ministers Tript Rajinder Bajwa and Sukhjinder Randhawa today wrote back to the CM, saying they were not bothered as to who gets the credit for the creation of a new district.
Correct historical wrong
Rajya Sabha MP Partap Bajwa said it was only after the British annexation of Punjab that the district headquarters were shifted from Batala to Gurdaspur. It is time to correct this historical wrong committed by British Raj.
SSS Board chief opposes move
Punjab Subordinate Service Selection Board Chairman Raman Behl on Tuesday warned against carving Batala district out of Gurdaspur, saying it would lead to implications. Gurdaspur had already suffered divisions during the reorganisation of 1966 and carving out of Pathankot district in 2011.
Capt to cook for Olympic winners
Chandigarh: Capt Amarinder Singh will host a dinner for Punjab Olympic winners, including Neeraj Chopra, on Wednesday. “From Patiala cuisine to pulao, lamb, chicken, aloo amp; zarda rice, Capt Amarinder will prepare each of these delicacies himself to keep his promise to Punjab Olympic medal winners and Neeraj Chopra at the dinner he is hosting tomorrow,” tweeted CM’s media adviser.
In the same breath, the ministers expressed surprise at Rajya Sabha MP Partap Bajwa writing on the same subject to the CM. “Partap Bajwa has written a letter to you to make Batala a district. This is a bit surprising because the person who has direct access to you should not have the need to write to you,” said the ministers while hitting back at the CM.
The two ministers sent the letter while holding consultations with PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu at PCC general secretary (organisation) Pargat Singh’s residence.
They further reminded the CM: “The Rajya Sabha MP had been writing letters for four and a half years and releasing the same to the media even at the cost of causing embarrassment not only to you and government but also the party, as he did not enjoy this rare privileged access earlier.”
In their justification for writing to the CM, the two said: “We adopted the medium of writing to convey to you the legitimate and long-standing demand of the people of Batala city and region to make Batala a district because you were not holding public meetings for some time. All meetings, including that of the Cabinet, are being held by video conferencing. So we had no choice but to write to you.”
Tript further drew CM’s attention to the Cabinet meeting wherein the decision to make Malerkotla a district was taken, saying he and then PCC chief Sunil Jakhar had then raised their voice for upgrading Batala to a district.
The CM while taking a dig at the two ministers had yesterday said: “Had they come to me and spoken about it, I would have told them that I am already looking into the matter, and would have even consulted them in this regard.”
Batala district demand: After Capt Amarinder Singh's letter snub, ministers write back
{$excerpt:n}
