Punjab: AAP questions police cover given to Badals

Commenting on it, the Aam Aadmi Party chief asked why does the Badal family continue to enjoy state police security if it has been withdrawn from the Congress MP on the pretext that he has been accorded a central security cover. The AAP chief asked Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to clarify his stand about the “voluminous” security provided to the Badal family and Majithia by the Punjab government.

The AAP on Sunday asked the Punjab government why the Badals continue to enjoy state police cover when it has been withdrawn from Congress Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa on the pretext that he already has central security. Why this criterion could not be applied to other politicians like the Badal family and SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia who have been granted security cover by central agencies as well as the Punjab Police, state AAP chief Bhagwant Mann asked in a statement.

The Badal family heads the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab. The state government on Saturday had decided to withdraw the police security given to Bajwa, saying he enjoys the central security cover and virtually faced no threat.

The decision had come days after Bajwa and another Congress Rajya Sabha MP, Shamsher Singh Dullo, sought a CBI probe into the illegal liquor trade in the wake of the hooch tragedy that killed 121 people in three districts of the state. Commenting on it, the Aam Aadmi Party chief asked why does the Badal family continue to enjoy state police security if it has been withdrawn from the Congress MP on the pretext that he has been accorded a central security cover.

The AAP chief asked Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to clarify his stand about the “voluminous” security provided to the Badal family and Majithia by the Punjab government. Slamming the CM for allegedly not “tolerating” his own criticism, the Sangrur MP said the Amarinder Singh government could go to the "extreme" extent against anyone, even if they are senior leaders of their own party, for criticising its functioning.