Ludhiana: Almost two weeks after he sat on dharna at the Ladowal toll plaza demanding its abolition and made several vehicles pass through it without paying charges, Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu seemed to have taken a U turn as on Tuesday while crossing this toll plaza, he paid the toll not only for the car he was travelling in but also for for his escort and the cars of Congress workers in his entourage. Interestingly, after seeing Bittu’s motorcade, the toll barrier staff tried to let it pass without charging but Bittu forcibly paid toll charges.Responding to his actions, district president of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Ranjit Singh Dhillon dubbed them as theatrics ahead of Lok Sabha polls. “Ludhiana MP has been misguiding people on the issue of toll and he is still trying to gain cheap publicity by indulging into such actions. He let thousands of vehicles pass through this toll plaza without paying any toll and now he is in favour of paying charges. He will be given the reply by Ludhiana residents whom he tried to fool by raking up the issue of toll and then running away from it without getting the toll charges waived off permanently,” he said.Bittu however claimed that he was not against paying toll to the company which was executing the national highway work. “The company is not liable to charge the toll if even after collecting crores of rupees it is not completing the pending works which is creating huge problem for residents. Asked why he paid the toll even after the toll authorities were giving him the exemption as an MP, he said, “As an MP I may be exempted from paying toll tax but I am entitled for this facility only when I am travelling in my official vehicle. With the election code of conduct in place, I am not entitled to use my official vehicle and I have been travelling in a private vehicle therefore I have to pay the toll as per rules.”

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