Jalandhar, May 7 – Former minister and senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia today asked chief minister Bhagwant Mann to tell Punjabis why he continued to shield food and civil supplies minister Lal Chand Kataruchak even after a police probe had revealed that the video of the minister committing sodomy with a scheduled caste youth was genuine.
Addressing a press conference here, the former minister said “it has now come to light that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister sodomized the youth on the pretext of giving him a government job. The authenticity of the video which was submitted to the Punjab Governor has also been proved beyond doubt. Despite this the chief minister continues to support Kataruchak, a move which has forced the latter’s victim into hiding”.
Asserting that leaders and legislators of the ‘badlav wali sarkar’ were involved in numerous cases of corruption and even heinous crime, Mr Bikram Majithia said “we have witnessed how Jalalabad legislator Goldy Kamboj’s father was arrested for being involved in flesh trade coupled with blackmailing his victims. We have seen Minister Vijay Singla and Fauja Singh Sarari being dismissed for indulging in corruption but no case has been registered against them till now”.
Mr Majithia said in direct contrast the AAP government was quick to register a false case against television journalist Bhavana Kishore solely because she had exposed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for spending Rs 44 crore to renovate his official residence. He said similarly earlier cases had been registered against artists and intellectuals who had dared to speak the truth even as web channels had been banned because they did not broadcast the propaganda being released by AAP.
The former minister also thanked the media on the occasion for highlighting how Kartarpur legislator Balkar Singh had prepared a false disability certificate to enable the recruitment of his son as a Sub Inspector under a special quota for disabled police officers. He said while the high court had dismissed the case, the SAD demanded a probe into the disability certificate procured by the legislator and registration of a criminal case against him.
Mr Majithia also demanded action against the chief minister’s media director Baltej Pannu and social media handler Arushi for leaking information about the withdrawal of Sidhu Moosewala’s security which led to the latter’s murder. He condemned the government for trying to suppress the appeals being made by Moosewala’s parents for justice in the case.
The Akali leader also highlighted the AAP government was discriminating against scheduled castes by presenting affidavits in the high court asserting that SC candidates did not have the requisite ability to be appointed as Law Officers.