Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today said it was condemnable that The Tribune newspaper, a public trust which called itself the 'voice of the people', had allowed itself to be hijacked by Punjab Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh for his selfish political interests.In a statement here, the SAD president said it was unfortunate that the 131 year old newspaper, which had been founded by noted philanthropist Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia to educate the masses and was always known for its accuracy and objectivity, had slipped into Congress hands over the years and had now become a mouthpiece of the Congress party.
"The Tribune Trust has in the past always been run by men of integrity. I am constrained to say this is no longer the case with the paper openly taking the side of the Congress in the run up to various elections to consistently damage the prospects of the SAD-BJP combine".Mr Badal said the Congressisation of The Tribune was part of a deliberate conspiracy and that now The Tribune trust was controlled by a group of chums of Capt Amarinder Singh. Mr Badal said it was this group of chums who had brought in a known "Badal - baiter" - Kanwar Sandhu as Executive Editor of the newspaper in October last year with the aim of striking at the Badal family".
The SAD president said Mr Kanwar Sandhu, who had a controversial past and was responsible for a number of scams involving his family members, was being allowed to run the newspaper as his fiefdom by the paper's Trust. "It is Mr Sandhu who has formed his own personal team outside of the newspaper which has come out with recent stories aimed at hitting the Badal family on the eve of the parliamentary elections. We reject the stories for the contempt they deserve. The people of Punjab know the truth. Even in the run up to the last assembly elections The Tribune ran a motivated campaign to put us down but the people of the State defeated their nefarious designs by bestowing their mandate on us. We trust this will happen again now", the SAD president added.Mr Badal said he also wanted to make it clear that Mr Kanwar Sandhu was leading a motivated campaign in The Tribune against the Badal family because he had a personal grudge against it. "Mr Sandhu holds us responsible for the closure of Day and Night news channel which he was heading earlier even though this allegation is far from the truth. Day and Night folded up under its own weight because of Mr Sandhu's incompetence. I also feel Mr Sandhu should behave like a professional journalist and not use pseudonyms to attack the Badal family. It would have been appropriate if he had taken credit for the malicious pieces he has personally written as well as disclose to the readers of the newspapers the details of his personal "dirty tricks" team which has been part of this collaborative effort which was approved by The Tribune Trust under pressure from Capt Amarinder Singh", the SAD President said.
Speaking about his own personal assets as well as that of the Badal family, the SAD president said each and every penny was accounted for. "All my businesses are in public domain and I have listed the same in my books and affidavits before the Election Commission. This is unlike Capt Amarinder Singh who is yet to explain his foreign accounts and properties". He said it was strange that The Tribune was targeting the Badal family by presenting the old allegations levelled by Capt Singh in a new avatar despite the fact that each and every allegation was investigated during the earlier Congress government and nothing incriminating was revealed. " However The Tribune is not investigating Capt Amarinder who still has corruption cases running against him and is yet to explain the acquisition of his properties and foreign banks accounts", Mr Badal added.