Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today categorically said that decision of state government to ban the screening MSG was taken in the larger public interest to ensure law and order situation in Punjab and at the same time he also made it clear that the ban was not permanent in nature rather it could be reviewed as the situation gradually normalizes.Addressing media persons on the sidelines of his special visit to monitor progress of ongoing School for Meritorious Students on Badal Road and other projects in and around the Bathinda, the Chief Minister said, “We are not against any particular sect but at the same time we were equally duty bound to maintain the law and order across the state,” he said.
Replying to another query regarding the seat sharing arrangement in the ensuing Delhi Assembly polls the Chief Minister said that the party president Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal was in the national capital to negotiate with the national leadership of BJP for allocation of seats to the Shiromani Akali Dal and hoped this issue would be amicably finalized to the satisfaction of both the alliance partners. Mr. Badal, however, maintained that he as Chief Minister was not anyway associated with this issue and rather it was the sole prerogative of the SAD.Answering a question about sacking of Jathedar Takht Sri Damdama Sahib Balwant Singh Nandgarh, the Chief Minister out rightly said that he was not even remotely connected with this issue as the appointment and removal of any Jathedar of Takht was exclusively within the domain of Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).
Asked to comment on the transfer of Jalandhar ED officer Mr Niranjan Singh, Mr. Badal unequivocally stated that he was not involved in the transfer of the said official in anyway rather it has been a routine matter of transfers purely on administrative grounds as claimed by the top brass of ED headquarters.Answering another question related to the ensuing elections to the local bodies across the state, the Chief Minister firmly stated that there was no question of postponing these elections albeit it was obligatory on the part of state government to hold these elections on the schedule as per the directions of Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Earlier the Chief Minister visited the development projects including Punjabi University College, Sports School and 2 Pb R & V Sqdn NCC unit at Ghudda to make on the spot assessment of the progress of these projects. He sought vital inputs from all the officials and employees concerned and the difficulties encountered by them in accomplishing these prestigious projects. He asked the Deputy Commissioner Bathinda to regularly monitor the ongoing progress to ensure their functioning efficaciously. The Chief Minister hoped that all these four projects would rejuvenate our youth with far more energy and vigor to become ideal citizens of the society.
Adding he said that the Sports School Ghudda would soon emerge as front runner sports school in the country to motivate the school children for excelling in the field of sports. He said that the main objective of opening this school was to create a nursery of young sports persons as he was a firm believer that unbounded talent must be tapped when they are young.Prominent among others accompanying him included the Special Principal Secretary to CM Mr. KJS Cheema, CPS Mr. Sarup Chand Singla, and former Mayor Baljit Singh Beerbehman, Deputy Commissioner Bathinda Dr. Basant Garg, DIG Mr. Amar Singh Chahal, SSP Mr Inder Mohan Singh Bhatti and others.