SKELETONS CONTINUES TO TUMBLE AS MULTI CRORE ‘PADDY SEED SCANDAL’ UNEARTHED

Image credit: https://www.downtoearth.org.in

It’s appalling that almost all portfolios held by the Chief Minister are not only in complete disarray but abominably plagued by mega corruption and scandals. Last month liquor smuggling and illicit distilleries were in the glare of the media that rocked the geniality of the State Cabinet. Some Ministers and congress MLAs even accused the incumbent Chief Secretary of inappropriate behavior and publicly pointed finger towards him for the steep decline of the excise revenue in the State; indicative of a conflict of interest, because they alleged that his son was involved in the illegitimate liquor trade in Punjab during curfew and lock-down.

 The illegal mining operation is also going on in the State in full swing, with the explicit consent of the Chief Minister, which is why the entire mining department and the District administration has turned a blind eye on the blatant activities of Sand and mining Mafia in Punjab. Now it’s the turn of mega seed scandal apparently unearthed by Bikram Singh Majithia MLA of SAD (Badal), with credible irrefutable evidence accusing a Minister in the State Cabinet, Mr. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa being hand in glove with the culprits. Unfortunately Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh is the Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Minister of Punjab has maintained baffling and deliberate silence on the issue despite the sensitive matter concerns to his own department. Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia has alleged that the spurious seed scandal would cost the state to the tunes of 4000 crores as per his assessment.

 Chief Minister’s impenetrable silence over such a susceptible issue confronting the farmers of the State; is causing a deep sense of anguish and disquiet to the robbed farmers. The farming community of Punjab is already in distress because of multiple reasons but if they are not even entitled for the genuine paddy seed of PR 128 and PR 129 varieties, what could be more atrocious to the farmers in distress, than this kind of apathy of the Chief Minister, Capt. Amarinder Singh, towards them.

 Intriguingly enough, in the entire high profile controversy of spurious paddy seed only Mr. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa is being made the selective target of the abhorrent political attack by Mr. Bikram SinghMajithia as if Capt. Amarinder Singh is behind all the muck, as the agent provocateur of the pointed attack against his own minister. SAD (Badal) need to explain as to why they have mysteriously spared the Chief Minister, whereas he is the Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare  Minister, ostensibly more responsible for the mega seed scam in his own department.

 Twenty days inordinate delay in arresting the real culprits after the FIR was lodged at Ludhiana police Station, under insufficient sections of the IPC  in the fraud case of enormous magnitude and quite paradoxically the police has even tried to suppress the facts regarding the actual quantity of the recovery of spurious paddy seed, fraudulently labeled as PR 128 and PR 129  by the suspected culprits; is indicative of ‘clandestine simultaneous cover-up operation’ to hush up the matter in the long run, under the direction of the CM, who has already negotiated the silence of the Minister in the line question for seed scandal.

 The Majithia tirade also has the potential to end up abruptly, as a drop scene of the manipulated drama of the absurd.

SAD (Taksali) demands that either the Judicial Probe by the sitting High Court judge or the High Court-monitored day to day probe could unearth the real culprits. If Capt. Amarinder Singh has even a little sympathy with the farmers of the State he should immediately request the hon’ble Punjab & Haryana High Courts Chief Justice to spare a Hon’ble judge for this very important probe.

• The writer of the letter is Bir Devinder Singh, a former deputy speaker of Punjab legislative assembly. He’s two times MLA and has vast experience in politics. For many years he was in the Congress party and now he is senior vice president of Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali).