SAD chief had no real cause for criticism of budget: Pb CM on Sukhbir's businessman remark

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday slammed SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal for calling him a "businessman", saying the opposition leader made the "bizarre" comment in the absence of any real cause for criticism of the state budget.

The budget was presented in the Punjab assembly on Friday.

Terming the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader's reaction "irrational", Singh said that "in the absence of any real cause for criticism, the Akali leader once again resorted to making bizarre and illogical comments."

It is evident that the SAD chief either had no clue about what a businessman really was or was, as usual, playing to the gallery by picking up some catchy word or phrase to make headlines, the chief minister said.

 

Badal in Amritsar on Friday reportedly called Singh a "businessman".

Considering the wide array of "business interests" in which the Badal family had involved itself during the 10 years of their rule, it was the SAD chief and his kin who were the real businessman, Singh alleged in a statement here.

He said like a "petty" businessman who does not want to share the fruits of his business with others, Badal had never left his "shop" for a second.

"The Shiromani Akali Dal president was, even now, obsessively controlling his business interests with an iron hand, to the detriment of his own party," Singh alleged.

"Had Sukhbir shown even 10 per cent of this interest (he is now showing in my doings) in the welfare of the state when his party was in power, Punjab's story would have been different today," he said.

The chief minister alleged that SAD had looted the state when it was in power.

Singh also took a swipe at Badal Sukhbir, as well as SAD leader and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, for "deriding" the 'Ideal Chief Minister' award recently conferred on him.

"It is clearly a case of sour grapes for them," Singh said, adding that none of the Badals could ever dream of being even remotely considered for such an honour.