Chandigarh, August 28
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today snubbed his nephew and state finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal while reminding him that one could have differences of opinion like he has on the issue of subsidies but that the decision of the Cabinet was binding on everyone.
The snub may have been mild in nature but the Chief Minister spoke passionately. Sources said the reaction was also aimed at putting an end to other such “sporadic statements”, which could harm the party in view of the coming Vidhan Sabha session starting from September 4.
Manpreet Singh Badal in a statement yesterday claimed that the present budgetary allocations could not support the large-scale subsidies and that the state was in the midst of a financial crisis, which could endanger its economy. He had also commented that the government was stonewalling important decisions on finances.
The Chief Minister, while reacting to the issue, said it was not necessary that every person’s viewpoint would be agreed upon. He said the decision of the Cabinet was a collective one and that everyone was responsible for the decisions taken. He said many times in the past even his suggestions had not been accepted and that there was no reason to complain on this score.
The Congress has been quick to take advantage of the issue with its chief spokesman Bir Devinder Singh saying that it was a matter of grave concern that the finance minister had admitted candidly that health and education sectors were deprived of the funds they deserved just because of the resource crunch and fiscal constraints.
Bir Devinder said: “Mr Manpreet Badal should not be treading this ruinous and crisis-ridden path, if the Cabinet refuses to listen the dark signals of destructions of the Punjab economy”, he said, adding that it has been more than a year and a half that his advice is not accepted in the council of ministers. The only respectable course left for him is to quit the Cabinet.
