Chandigarh, June 23- Senior Congress leader and former Cabinet Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu has condemned the decision of the Mann government of Punjab to appoint the Chief Secretary as the Chairman of all the Local Development Boards of the state instead of the Chief Minister, saying that this decision is a gross violation of the basic principles of democracy and it is a sheer betrayal of democracy.
He said that the Chief Minister elected through votes is accountable to the public, whereas a bureaucrat is not accountable to anyone. He said that we may disagree with the policies of the Chief Minister at times, but snatching the rights of an elected leader in this way can never be justified. This is an insult to democracy.
Sidhu said that this decision was taken during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann himself. During this, Section 29 (3) of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning Act was amended and this responsibility was handed over to the Chief Secretary. He said the Mann government claims that the decision has been taken on the lines of cities like Ahmedabad, Noida, Kanpur, Meerut, and Lucknow where such planning authorities are run by bureaucrats. Rejecting the chief minister's argument, Sidhu asserted that Punjab has its own political thinking and democratic structure. Our chief minister is elected by the votes of the people and not any bureaucratic officer.
Sidhu said the decision came two weeks after the approval of land acquisition and land pooling for 24,311 acres of land in Ludhiana and 6,285 acres near Mohali. He questioned where will the public go with their grievances when such a large development project will be handed over to a non-elected official?
He further said if the Aam Aadmi Party government does not care about democracy and is handing over the reins of all the urban development authorities to bureaucrats, then what is the use of holding elections? Do people vote only for show? He demanded that the government immediately withdraw the amendment and reinstate the chief minister's constitutional responsibility. He stressed that this fight is not about any individual but is an issue of protecting the Constitution and democracy.