Summary:
CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Monday said everyone had the right to voice their mind and it was up to Navjot Singh Sidhu to explain his stand on Pulwama attack. They neither cared for the traditions of the House nor were concerned about the welfare of the people." Budget presentation is a vital proceeding, which the people of the state await eagerly every year, he said, attacking Akalis leaders for targeting Sidhu to divert attention from such an important assembly matter.Reacting to the slogan-shouting and walkout by the Akalis, Amarinder said the party had clearly lost all sense of morality and uprightness, as evident in their desperate efforts every day to reduce the House proceedings to a mockery.He said, "Such unconstitutional behaviour was not only unbecoming of the party of national stature but actually exposed their anti-people mindset. At the same time, he hit out at Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for disrupting the proceedings of the House ahead of the budget presentation "to gain political mileage".Amarinder told mediapersons that Sidhu was a cricketer while he himself was a soldier, and both had different viewpoints on things, adding that the minister must have realized that he had gone overboard with his Pakistan visit.Sidhu does not understand defence intricacies and had possibly reacted out of friendly motive, and the minister's intentions were surely not anti-national, and he must have got the message, he said.Amarinder blamed Akalis for creating a ruckus on the issue in the Vidhan Sabha for political gains..