Chandigarh, March 29: The Badal family saga turned into a “no holds barred and bare all” tale in the Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday, with Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal hitting out at his estranged uncle and cousin.
As he rose to give his reply on the Budget discussions, Akali MLAs started a protest, carrying banners that read, “Jojo tax band karo” (referring to allegations of “goonda tax” being collected by Manpreet’s brother-in-law).
The otherwise suave Manpreet reacted sharply: “Mard de bachche ho tan meri puri gal suno”.
From taking up the issue of drug taint on Bikram Singh Majithia (by calling him “chitta vechan wala”) to highlighting how his estranged uncle (former CM Parkash Singh Badal) used the state money for his heart treatment in February 2017, besides accusing him of using the SGPC money for langar served at the bhog of his wife.
Manpreet alleged that his uncle got land in Gurgaon as a gift from a former Haryana CM for selling Punjab’s interests on SYL canal. “They say I don’t know how to run Finance Department. But what I don’t know is how to run a transport business, a hotel business or sell chitta,” he retorted.
Later in a press release, SAD MLAs Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Gurpratap Wadala and Pawan Kumar Tinu said Manpreet forgot to answer why the farm loan of farmers had not been waived and why “Jojo tax” was being imposed.
Why new taxes
Manpreet said it was imperative to impose new taxes to get cheaper loan worth Rs 975 crore from Asian Development Bank. “In fact, those who oppose the tax now (referring to the Akalis) are the ones who had signed the deal with ADB,” he said.
Budget passed
The Budget proposals were passed in the House on Wednesday. Trashing fudged figures charge, Manpreet said he had shown rise in non-tax revenue by Rs 5,152 crore in 2018-19 because it included the loan of Rs 4,200 crore taken by the Mandi Board and the earnings of PIDB which were now being routed through the state’s consolidated fund.
Digital libraries
Manpreet announced a grant of Rs 50 crore for setting up digital libraries in Amritsar and Patiala, and a tertiary cancer care centre in Hoshiarpur.
Source Tribune India
