Chandigarh confidential

Political kabaddi

During the closing ceremony of the third edition World Cup Kabaddi in Ludhiana, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal reportedly said though he had never played kabaddi, he had played "political kabaddi" throughout his life. He also boasted that till date he had remained undefeated and no one could ever defeat him in "political kabaddi". Moreover, at a PAU function which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also attended, Badal had said he should be given a degree in doctorate of politics.

SAD behaviour

Not only senior leaders, power seems to have gone into the heads of lower-rung SAD leaders as well. In a recent incident at Hoshiarpur district's Talwara, a circle-level SAD leader threatened a Powercom SDO for not obliging him. But when the officer filed a written complaint to his seniors, including the Powercom chairman, the leader had to take his words back. The SDO, who is posted at the Talwara Hydel Project, was being pressurised by the SAD leader not to pursue a matter pertaining to misuse of government quarters by employees at Talwara. Many in Powercom admitted this was not an isolated case. "Threat of transfer is very common and SAD leaders always issue threats of getting officers, who refuse to oblige them, transferred," said a senior official.

Time for truth

In his address, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal added quite a bit of humour to the first All India Conference of Commissioners of Police in Amritsar. "Whosoever has the worst image would have the best ACR (annual confidential reports) and the person who is honest and hardworking would not have that good an ACR," Sukhbir said, adding that as Punjab takes a plunge in modernisation of the police, non-performers would be dealt with strictly. "Suspension is like a holiday for 15 days or a month," he said, adding that strict action has been taken in ASI Ravinderpal Singh murder case by dismissing an SHO.

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