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Anti-tax protest: Sanjha Morcha says ‘polite’ no to Capt’s invite
Sarbjit Dhaliwal/TNS

The inside story The invite was not accepted due to lack of consensus among the senior leaders of the Morcha The People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) and the SAD (Longowal) leaders were okay with the invite, but CPI members felt that it was not a proper time to join hands with the Congress

Chandigarh, September 4
The Sanjha Morcha, a coalition of four political outfits headed by Manpreet Singh Badal, has declined the invitation of the Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh to take part in the party’s dharnas against the SAD-BJP regime at all district headquarters on September 7.

The Morcha today announced a separate programme to offer to court arrests at all district headquarters on September 21 if the Badal government does not withdraw the recently imposed taxes.

On September 14, Morcha leaders will give a memorandum to the Punjab Governor requesting him to direct the state government to withdraw fresh taxes. “We will start an andolan on this issue as we feel that there are more taxes in the pipeline,” said a statement issued by the Morcha after a meeting held in Chandigarh at the residence of former Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala.

“As far as the call given by the Congress to join the dharna is concerned, it was felt that the time is too short for us to be a part of this agitation. But we are thankful to PPCC chief Amarinder Singh for his invitation,” it said. Amarinder Singh had personally contacted all senior Morcha leaders, including Manpreet, Baldev Singh Mann, and Dr Joginder Dayal for their support to the agitation. By saying a ‘polite no’ and not turning down the invite in an outright manner, Morcha leaders have kept their options open for a possible tie-up with Amarinder in the future, opine political observers.

Though ‘short notice’ has been given as an official explanation by the Morcha for not taking part in the Congress protest, sources said the invite was not accepted due to lack of consensus among its senior leaders. While People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) and SAD (Longowal) leaders were okay with the invite, CPI members felt that it was not a proper time to join hands with the Congress. The CPM referred to its national policy and party line to maintain distance from the Congress as well as the BJP.

At the meeting it was felt that the piecemeal imposition of taxes was not a solution to the debt and deficit faced by the state government. It only distorts the economy and makes it uncompetitive while burdening the common man. Punjab needs a political solution to come out of this economic mess. It was also felt that before imposition of taxes, the state government must curb its lavish expenditures.