Sukhpal singh Khaira, Leader of Opposition
Dismissing the allegations of SAD and Congress against its Ropar MLA Amarjit Sandoa accusing him of sand mining interests, the AAP said Friday that the similar “cock and bull stories” from both the parties showed that they were hand-in-glove with the mining mafia.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Khaira said both the prime accused in the case of attack on Sandoa were murder accused who were out on bail. “You can judge the law and order situation of the state where undertrials are carrying out illegal sand mining activities and when they attack opposition MLAs, the party in power believes their allegations than those of the MLA,” he said.
Attacking SAD for accusing Ropar MLA of being involved in “extortion” from sand contractors, Khaira said, “Which mafia has the Akali Dal not patronised in the 10 years that it was in power? Be it sand mafia, liquor mafia, transport mafia, cable mafia… you name the mafia and they are involved in it. And now the Congress has joined them,” he said.
Khaira said Sandoa had got complaints that sand mafia was operating unauthorisedly and digging sand quarry near village Baihara.
“A day earlier, he had tried to contact the mining director to complain about it, but was told by his office that the director was on leave and they could not tell to whom the complaint was to be made. The Deputy Commissioner of Roopnagar does not pick up his phone calls and Sandoa MLA has already made a complaint to the Privileges Committee of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha,” he said.
Lashing out at Congress for demanding a probe into alleged links of Sandoa with the sand mafia, the LoP said it was strange that a party which has lost its sitting cabinet minister to the sand mining auction scam should talk about inquiries. “Can the Congress tell me what criminal action they have taken against Rana Gurjit Singh? On the other hand, the Congress government may well have refunded the money invested in the mines which were bid by his employees,” he said.
AAP holds protests, seeks special Assembly session
AAP workers demonstrated at various places across Punjab, including Roopnagar, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Moga. A delegation of MLAs, including its state co-president Dr Balbir Singh and LoP Sukhpal Khaira, met Governor VPS Badnore and demanded a special session of the Assembly to discuss the attack on AAP MLA and the forest officials. “We demand a special session on illegal mining, mafia raj, attack on legislators and officials by the mafia, incidents of farmers’ suicides, falling standard of education, problem of unemployment, pollution of river waters, among other issues,” said Khaira.