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Badal’s remarks on red beacon mere tokenism, says Govt spokesperson

The Punjab government has termed former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s statement on red beacons as mere tokenism, and has…

Badal’s remarks on red beacon mere tokenism, says Govt spokesperson

Parkash Singh Badal (PHOTO: Facebook)

The Punjab government has termed former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s statement on red beacons as mere tokenism, and has urged him to take up meaningful issues instead of indulging in frivolous opposition.

Dubbing Badal’s remarks as symptomatic of the anti-people, culture in the party, an official spokesperson said on Thursday that if the Akali leader was finding it difficult to connect the elimination of VIP culture with public welfare, then it clearly showed the extent to which the Akalis were alienated from the people of Punjab, which had translated into the party’s poor show in the recent polls.

As the state’s former CM should constructively work with the government in the interest of the people of the state and not indulge in expressing opposition for the sake of opposition. The spokesperson urged Badal to graciously accept that times had changed and there was no place for VIP culture in the modern world, least of all in democratic India, whose Constitution provides for equality for all citizens, without according special privileges to anyone.

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The red beacon, though symbolic, had become a tool for politicians to throw their weight around and assert their authority over the common masses, said the spokesperson. Not only do these kind of symbols alienate the people, but send out the wrong message that the politicians are not ordinary men and women, but hold a lofty status that requires others to bow before them, he said.

Further, said the spokesperson, with the red beacon virtually giving the vehicles of the so-called VIPs a free run of the roads, ordinary people ended up being subjected to a lot of harassment while commuting, at times getting stuck for hours and unable to reach their destination in time. People have died because they could not reach the hospital in time as a result of VIP movement, and students have missed out on their exams for the same reason, the spokesperson pointed.

The spokesperson said the government was committed to abolishing the VIP culture, of which the red beacon was one of the most visible insignias, in the state. All public servants, including politicians, need to remain always connected to the people if they are to serve them better, and the VIP culture has turned out to be a huge barrier in this regard, he added.

Besides, the VIP culture had proved to be a major drain on the state’s economy, which was struggling to cope with a massive debt – the biggest legacy of the Badal government, the spokesperson pointed out, adding that Punjab could ill-afford to continue with such frivolous and non-essential expenses.

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