Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Batala, August 8
Cabinet Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, who ruled Batala for four and a half years, stands to lose his influence as the Capt Amarinder Singh faction has extended unconditional support to his political rival and three-time MLA Ashwani Sekhri.
The Minister, who is the sitting legislator from Fatehgarh Churian, was eying the Batala Assembly seat. As a prelude to this, he had also appointed his loyalist Sukh Teja as the Mayor.
The message that was sent to Bajwa was loud and clear after Sekhri presided over a meeting today in which Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ishfaq, SSP Rachpal Singh and senior officials were present. On his part, Sekhri has even gone to the extent of “warning” the minister not to enter Batala without any valid reason. Notably, the minister till yet had been exercising unbridled powers in the civil and police administration. However, Sekhri’s elevation now means that he can no longer call the shots.
Batala Power play
- Cabinet Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, who is the sitting legislator from Fatehgarh Churian, was eying the Batala seat. As a prelude to this, he had also appointed his loyalist Sukh Teja as the Mayor
- MLA Ashwani Sekhri has gone to the extent of “warning” the minister against entering Batala without a valid reason. Bajwa till yet had been exercising unbridled powers in the administration
Apart from backing him to the hilt, the CM has also appointed Sekhri as the Chairman of the Punjab Health Systems Corporation. Not long ago, the minister was one of the three handpicked men of the CM to oversee the party and governmental affairs in Majha. The other two were Cabinet ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria. The signs were ominous for Bajwa last week when DSP (City) Parvinder Kaur was shifted to a relatively insignificant post. Sekhri replaced her with his loyalist Lalit Kumar.
Ever since his elevation, Sekhri has been holding meetings. Meanwhile, Mayor Teja has castigated Sekhri for “cancelling developmental works worth Rs 10 crore.” Sekhri, however, said he had nothing to do with these works.
Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa’s wings clipped with Ashwani Sekhri’s elevation
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