More than 120 people have died in the Punjab hooch tragedy in recent times. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has demanded a CBI probe into the matter, alleging the involvement of a cabinet minister, Congress MLAs and party leaders in the illicit liquor trade. SAD leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal raises some serious allegations against the Capt Amarinder Singh government in an exclusive chat with The Daily Guardian.
Q: You are blaming the Captain Amarinder Singh government for the recent illicit liquor deaths. Why?
A: This has been one of the biggest tragedies that has taken place in India and I can say with confidence that the state government is clearly responsible. We have been saying for the last few months that illicit liquor has become the fashion in Punjab; all the scotch whisky that is served in hotels is being manufactured illegally here; and these illegal distilleries have the patronage of the Congress MLAs. Six months back, an illegal distillery was caught in Rajpura, a second in Khanna and a couple more. There was an attempt to cover up by the government, we have been raising this issue that a lot of lives are endangered because of these, but government was not interested in catching these guys
Q: There are allegations that Congress MLAs are involved, and interestingly these are being raised by Congress leaders like Bajwa, not just SAD leaders.
A: It’s not just the Congress who is alleging this. The matter came up in the cabinet also as to why the state’s excise revenues are going down. In every state, excise revenues go up but in Punjab Rs 5,600 crore worth of revenue has gone down. The ministers were blaming the bureaucrats for this, but the Chief Secretary told the CM that excise revenue has gone down because of patronage by Congress MLAs belonging to the liquor mafia. He lost his job because of that.
Q: That’s a very serious allegation.
A: After this, the ED swung into action and wanted papers from the excise department, but the Punjab government refused. You should read our local papers. Do you know that at a distillery around 50 people had died due to illicit liquor, the excise officials went to raid the distillery but the local Congress leader from the area, Danny, got a case registered against the excise officials for raiding the illegal distillery. He then had a press conference stating that no excise official can enter my area. Can you imagine this is the level at which they operate.
Q: You have asked for a CBI probe. Don’t you trust the state agencies?
A: If the CBI inquiry takes place half of the Punjab cabinet will be behind bars because of this illicit liquor trade, as will half of the Congress MLAs. Half of the distilleries caught in Punjab belong to Congress leaders, zilla parishad leaders, MLAs, etc
Q: Rahul Gandhi had once said 7 of 10 people in Punjab are drug addicts, now you say half of Capt Amarinder’s cabinet will go behind bars for dealing in illicit liquor. Are you simply trading allegations?
A: Problem with Rahul Gandhi is that he doesn’t use his brain but reads out whatever is handed to him on a piece of paper. A study was done by Guru Nanak Dev University that surveyed drug addicts only, asking what is the age profile of drug addicts. This study surmised that 70 percent of drug addicts are below the age of 30. Rahul picks up the paper and says 70 percent of youth of Punjab are drug addicts. The study was only limited to drug addicts not the entire population of Punjab. That is the problem with Rahul Gandhi and also why the Congress is in the state it is today.
Q: How would you evaluate Captain Amarinder’s handling of the lockdown and Covid-19?
A: I would like to congratulate Capt Amarinder because he has been in lockdown for the last three and half years. Maybe he knew that corona was going to come and was taking precautions since then. He hasn’t been out of his house, and now he’s left his official residence and moved to his farmhouse. He hasn’t met anyone. More than 120 people have died in this illicit liquor tragedy. It is his job as chief minister and the excise minister to go and meet the families. He hasn’t met anyone. All his cabinet meetings are happening via zoom. This is the state of affairs.
Q: Hasn’t he visited the sites of the tragedy?
A: He hasn’t visited and he will not visit. His fundamentals are very clear. He is going to abide by the Government of India regulations of staying at home. Ask anyone in Punjab that have you seen the CM in your district in the last three and a half years? 100 percent of the people will say no. If you look at the record of how many times the CM has left Chandigarh in the last three and half years, it won’t be more than 5 or 6 times.
Q: The SAD had planned to gherao Sonia Gandhi’s residence, why not CM’s residence?
A: Because he (CM) will only wake up once the Gandhi family tells him to. He is not taking this issue seriously. It’s a serious matter. When the lockdown opened up there were lines outside liquor shops all across the country, Punjab was the only state where there were no lines, because there was continuous supply of liquor by Congress MLAs throughout the lockdown.