CBI being exploited for politics, won’t allow it to enter Punjab without permission: Capt Amarinder

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday cited the CBI’s “poor track record” in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege case to announce that his government will not allow the Central Bureau of Investigation into his state without permission.

Pointing out that eight states, including Punjab, had withdrawn permission to the agency to enter without permission, the chief minister said the agency was being increasingly used to play politics, and a fair probe could not be ensured through it.

Dismissing the BJP as a non-entity in Punjab politics, the chief minister told a TV channel that the party was welcome to contest all 117 Vidhan Sabha seats in the state though it would not be able to win a single one without an alliance partner. The Congress had, in fact, no challenge in Punjab, with even the Akalis and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) posing no threat, he said, adding that neither of these parties had ever talked about anything positive in the interest of the state.

With elections in the state still over a year away, it was not possible to say which issue will dominate the polls, he said, expressing the hope that the BJP will resolve the farmers’ grievances soon.

“Farmers want MSP to remain and the Government of India should take steps to ensure that,” he said. The chief minister reiterated that corporates were welcome to buy foodgrains in Punjab as long as they followed the marketing system, built on ties between farmers and arhtiyas (commission agents).

SAYS DISSENT IN CONGRESS SIGN OF INTERNAL DEMOCRACY

Terming the dissent in the Congress a sign of internal democracy in the party, Capt Amarinder pointed out that those who had written to the party high command had been included in key committees constituted by party chief Sonia Gandhi.

On the issue of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections, the chief minister said that he had been demanding those for long but the Akalis did not want polls to the body, which they had been using for their own political gains.

Welcoming the ongoing joint Indian naval exercises with other countries, Captain Amarinder said China and Pakistan will not succeed in their nefarious designs against India. Punjab wants peace and development and will not allow Pakistan to foment trouble at any cost, he added.