Liquor Makes Enemies For This Chief Minister

Liquor helps make friends. A peg can unite people and say cheers together. In Punjab, however, liquor has led to deep fissures in the Punjab Government. Several ministers, including Finance Minister, are unhappy with the State Government's policy on opening wine shops. So deep are the differences that the cabinet meeting had to be postponed.

Finance Minister Manpreet Badal is upset with the new liquor policy of Amarinder Singh Government. He strongly opposed the domination of the chief secretary in government affairs and staged a walkout from the Cabinet meeting on Saturday. Another minister Charanjeet Singh too strongly opposed the Amarinder Singh Government's liquor policy. Few other ministers too staged a walkout opposing what they called ' the high-handed attitude' of the chief secretary. Minister for Prisons Sukhjinder Singh too is very upset at being not consulted while turning jails into quarantine centres for Covid paiients.

Already charismatic Navjot Siddu has left the ministry and is sulking ever since. He feels that Amarinder Singh was behaving like a dictator. Political observers feel that soon the Congress could implode in Punjab and the consequences would not be good for the state.