Is Sukhbir's priority Armani or Aam Aadmi? - 25/04/2011

Chandigarh. 25 April 2011. Qila Raipur MLA today reacted strongly to the Deputy Chief Minister's latest overseas trip to China.

Khangura stated that Sukhbir must explain whether his frequent overseas trips have brought even an iota of benefit to Punjab.

The MLA stressed that in the public mindset Sukhbir travels out of India on personal business and family shopping trips but does so at great expense to the public exchequer.

He asked Sukhbir to clarify how much his trips had cost the Punjab Government, which trips were publicly funded and which ones privately funded.

Khangura added that the public does expect the state leaders to visit innovative projects overseas, inspect cutting edge social development projects and to meet the captains of industry.

He went on "but the sad fact is that in over 4 years this lame duck Punjab administration has failed to attract even a single CEO of any Fortune 500 company to visit Punjab".

Khangura stressed that Sukhbir must decide whether it is in the public interest for him and his family to shop for Armani, Boss, Prada, Loius Vuitton and other luxury brands at the choicest boutiques in the best of international cities or whether his time would be better served reviewing social change in Soweto, slum renovation in Sao Paolo, innovative agriculture in Botswana or value added food processing in Indonesia.

The MLA stated that Sukhbir Badal appears to have a warped sense of priority that puts him and his family's interest above those of his party, with the poor long suffering people of Punjab a distant third.

Moreover, Khangura challenged Sukhbir to specify those technologies or business processes that he has witnessed overseas which he believes could have relevance in Punjab and what concrete steps this government has taken to establish any of these in Punjab.

Punjabis have still not forgotten that Sukhbir's singular advice to Punjab farmers following his visit to Brazil was a call for them to migrate there!

Khangura regretted "Sukhbir is incessantly insulting the intelligence of aam aadmi in Punjab by labelling his frequent overseas trips as official ones when in reality they are little more than personal shopping trips for luxury goods. Or may he has simply seen too many films like “The Devil Wears Prada".

The MLA closed "there will come a time when from within the confines of a state prison Sukhbir will have no opportunity to enjoy any of his designer goods. Sadly, by that time he will have squandered precious public resources in the futile search for a style statement that is usually the domain of those with good taste."