Congress will not contest Punjab bypoll

The Congress on Wednesday decided to boycott the Khadoor Sahab byelection necessitated after the sacrilege of the Holy Guru Granth Sahib at Bargadi in Kotkpaura, due to which party MLA Ramanjit Singh Sikki resigned in protest.

Talking to reporters at the Meet the Press programme hosted by the Chandigarh Press Club here on Wednesday, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president, Capt. Amarinder Singh, said, “Since the basic issue of the sacrilege of the Holy Guru Granth Sahib, for which Sikki resigned, still remains unresolved, the Congress decided there was no point in contesting the election.”

The PCC president reiterated that it was chief minister Parkash Singh Badal who had first directed the sacrilege of the Holy Guru Granth Sahab in a bid at “controlled destabilisation” to divert the public attention from his failures and subsequently ordered the firing on peaceful protesters which left two persons dead and about 40 injured.

“Not a single person has been identified, leave aside punishing them for the sacrilege, nor has any action been taken against the guilty police officials responsible for firing and killing of peaceful protesters,” he pointed out, adding that under these circumstances there was no point in seeking re-election.

The former Chief Minister maintained that the matter must be probed by a judicial commission headed by a sitting judge of the High Court. He said, as Badal was unlikely to do that since he knows the buck will stop at him, the Congress after it forms the government will set up the commission headed by a sitting judge to probe the sacrilege and punish the guilty.