By IANS,
Chandigarh : With Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal flying off to South Africa for a family holiday, state Congress chief Amarinder Singh said the duo had committed “constitutional impropriety” by leaving the state headless.
In a statement here Wednesday evening, Amarinder Singh criticized the Badals for “leaving the state headless and leaving for abroad without naming anybody to take care of the affairs of the government in their absence”.
“Both the Badals have left for their foreign trip together and have not nominated any minister who should be heading the government. This is an act of extreme irresponsibility on their part,” he said.
Election to the state’s 117 assembly seats was held Jan 30 and counting of votes will take place March 6. The model code of conduct of the Election Commission is in force till then.
“The standard procedure is that in absence of the chief minister it is the deputy chief minister who takes care of the state and in the current case, both of them are out of the country committing a constitutional impropriety.
“The state is virtually headless today and, god forbid, if some emergency happens, who should be responsible?” Amarinder asked.
“This is a classic case of somebody abdicating his authority without bothering about his responsibilities”.
Chiding the Badals, Amarinder said: “Is it that they have seen the writing on the wall and beaten a retreat much in advance. Even then, they were supposed to give the charge of the affairs of the state to someone.”