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No aspirations to become CM, says Sukhbir Badal

Chandigarh: A day after Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said any decision to make his son Sukhbir the next chief minister will be taken by the party, the latter on Thursday said he nursed no such aspirations.

“There is no such thing. Badal sahab is the chief minister and he will continue to lead the State,” Mr. Sukhbir told reporters here.

He said it was his duty to ensure the State progresses fast and the people’s interests are protected.

“I am not the only man (running the show). The complete vision of what our government does is prepared by a team and in my capacity I do monitor how things are progressing,” he said.

Mr. Badal had told reporters on Wednesday that any decision on the next chief minister would solely be taken by the legislature party.

Asked if his security had been increased in view of intelligence inputs of attacks on him, Sukhbir said, “I will never be cowed down by such threats.”

“My security has always been Z plus and the government is taking care of that. The threats have been there for a long time now,” he said.

Sukhbir ruled out any possibility of revival of militancy in the state in the wake of recovery of RDX at some places and arrest of some former militants.

“There is no chance, whatsoever. We are alert and we showed that by promptly bringing the Dera (Sacha Sauda) issue under control. We also quickly solved the Ludhiana blast incident,” he said.

Sukhbir played down the Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale portrait issue, saying “that is a religious matter and the decision was not taken by the government”. -- PTI

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