Chandigarh: Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, who was accused of being involved in the drug racket by alleged kingpin Jagadish Singh Bhola, on Tuesday said he was "open to any impartial probe" and even "ready to be hanged" if he had done any wrong, but would not be deterred from his duties by the "blackmailing tactics" of the Congress.
"My conscience is clear; I have done no wrong. My only fault is I have consistently taken the Punjab Congress head on. It is because of this that I am constantly targeted by the state Congress," Majithia said in a statement.
The Minister was referring to the land-grab scams involving Pradesh Congress President Partap Singh Bajwa which he had exposed last year in the Punjab assembly.
Attacking the Congress, he said they were siding with criminals and trying to sabotage the "war against drugs".
Defending Majithia, Shiromani Akali Dal blasted Congress for being "hand in glove" with a criminal who is trying to "turn the focus away from his grievous crimes".
"It is intriguing that Bajwa should be endorsing the tactics of a known criminal who is trying to turn the focus away from his grievous crimes," SAD MPs Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Balwinder Singh Bhunder, said in a joint statement.
"This is the first instance where a known criminal and a leader of a responsible political party are hand in glove with each other," they said.
Accusing Bajwa of targetting Majithia as his land-grabbing activities were exposed, the duo asked the government to probe what led to the "orchestrated outcry of Bhola and Bajwa".
"We understand that Bajwa and Bhola both see a common enemy in the SAD-BJP. But one still is shocked by the level to which the state president of a national party has fallen in his desperation born of his political frustrations because of widespread revolt against him," they said.
Majithia had yesterday rejected Bhola`s charge saying it was a "wild allegation" from a known criminal, who was facing a possible life sentence, and accused the Congress of trying to tarnish his image.
