Chandigarh: An ugly slanging match between Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and former state finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal over the last one week has kept the political pot boiling in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-ruled state.
In fresh salvos at each other Monday, the CM publicly promised punitive action against Badal and his relatives in a property deal case, while the BJP leader cautioned Mann to “control his tongue” and not force him “to open my mouth”.
The friends-turned-foes started the verbal duel after Badal was summoned last week by the state vigilance bureau on a complaint lodged by his political rival and BJP leader Sarup Chand Singla, who alleged that he misused his position as the finance minister in 2021 to purchase a plot in Bathinda at an extremely low price.
On Monday while in Sunam to mark the death anniversary of ‘Shaheed-e-Azam’ revolutionary Udham Singh, Mann said he would be “appreciated for being unbiased when an FIR is registered against Manpreet Badal”.
“I do not deny that Manpreet Badal brought me into politics, but the principles on which we had decided to do politics were shed by Manpreet long ago. People like him are called ‘Kakaji’ while we belong to simple families,” said Mann.
“These are the people who were with the Mughals one day and then with the Britishers. Once they were with the Akalis and then with the Congress and now with the BJP,” he said, referring to Badal’s political journey from leaving the Shiromani Akali Dal in 2009 to joining the Congress in 2016 and then the BJP early this year.
Badal responded to Mann’s comments in a video message Monday evening, saying he had heard the “threat” Mann had issued him at Sunam.
“I only want to remind you that power and popularity are never permanent. If there is any person who has stuck to the principles laid down when the PPP (People’s Party of Punjab) was formed, it is me. And if there is anyone who abandoned those principles, it is you,” he told Mann.
The PPP was created by Badal when he left the Akali Dal in 2009. He introduced Mann, then a popular comedian, into politics through the party, making him its vice-president. In 2016, Badal merged the party with the Congress. Mann had quit the PPP in 2014.
Addressing Mann, Badal said in his video message: “You are roaming around India in helicopters and aeroplanes as if you are a Mughal prince. If you remember things of the past, then I also remember the manner in which you would be rolling in my car. Don’t force me to open my mouth because if I do, then you will not find a place to hide in Punjab.”
“Wise people often say that one should keep a control on one’s tongue, and I would suggest you to do the same. Threats are issued by cowards. You have taken on the wrong man. I am not afraid of you or your threats. If you play on the pitch of honesty, I will come out of it cleanly. And if not, you are free to use your police, vigilance or anything against me and get any kind of case registered and I will face it,” he added.
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Trading charges
In the wake of the vigilance inquiry, Badal held a press conference last Tuesday stating that the Bathinda plot was acquired through a standard e-auction process, and he had no means to influence the price.
“I have always been a strong votary of accountability in public life and I welcome the vigilance bureau asking me about the purchase of this plot. But the complaint against me is completely baseless. In fact, I have been at the forefront of trying to save every single penny of the Punjab government’s treasury,” he said.
Badal then challenged Mann to find any evidence of financial misappropriation against him. “Let me tell you Bhagwant,” Badal said, “I am neither afraid of you nor of your vigilance bureau. Use all your might to find anything against me, but you will not.”
Badal further claimed that as finance minister, he had “led by example”. “I have never charged the government for the fuel in my official cars or even for my air and rail travel,” he added.
Reacting to the press conference, Mann tweeted that he knew everything about Badal and said his claims about saving every penny of the treasury were nothing but “drama”.
A day later, Badal tweeted that doing drama was Mann’s profession not his. He also attached a short video of Mann’s speech when he was in the PPP, appreciating “the role played by Manpreet Badal in Punjab’s politics”.
While talking to mediapersons in Chandigarh Sunday, the CM attacked not only Badal but also his brother-in-law Jaijeet Singh alias Jojo and threatened to take action against both. “Manpreet ne Jojo to jo jo karaya hai, usda hisaab dena payega (Manpreet will have to give an account of all that he got done from Jojo,” said Mann.
“When he made me the vice-president of his party (PPP), then also I was doing the same work. Is it wrong to be an artist? What drama have I done? When I left my career (to join politics), then Manpreet Badal used to appreciate it.”
“He (Badal) might have been paying toll at toll plazas but did (he) ever bother to shut down the illegal toll plazas, which I am doing now? How big an achievement is paying at the toll plaza or driving your own vehicle? People decide these things. He lost by 64,000 votes from Bathinda,” the CM pointed out.
On Tuesday, Badal said he had nothing to say regarding Mann’s charges against his brother-in-law. “The CM has not been able to find anything against me to fix me, and so he is trying to drag others into it,” he told ThePrint.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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