Badals in South Africa for week-long holiday

CHANDIGARH: While speculations over their political future are increasing with every passing day in the run up to elections, the first family of Shiromani Akali Dal decided to drop every worry back home and left for a week-long holiday abroad.

The Badal family - CM Parkash Singh Badal, his son Sukhbir Badal and his family including MP wife Harsimrat Badal, and three children - left the country on Tuesday night for their holiday.

Their destination - picturesque South Africa which is a tourist delight for anyone planning to holiday abroad. The family reportedly broke their journey at Dubai before heading for SA.

A senior government official confirmed that the family was on a "personal trip" abroad for a week, and would be back on February 22. "The family wanted to spend a holiday together after the hectic electioneering, so they had decided on this trip," said the official. This means that the cabinet meeting scheduled on February 21 would now be held on February 24.

BOX: Capt raps Badals for leaving state "headless"

Chandigarh: Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh ON Wednesday criticized chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy CM son Sukhbir Badal for leaving the state "headless" by going abroad together without naming anybody to look after the affairs of the government in their absence.

Leaving for their foreign trip together without nominating any minister to head the government in their absence is an act of "extreme irresponsibility" on part of the Badals, Amarinder said in a statement.

"The state is virtually headless and God forbid if some emergency happens, who should be responsible?" he asked. He termed it as a classic case of somebody abdicating his authority without bothering about his responsibilities.

The standard procedure is that in the absence of CM, it is the deputy CM who takes care of the state, and in the current case both of them are out of the country committing a "constitutional impropriety", he said.

"They might have seen the writing on the wall and beaten a retreat much in advance (ahead of poll results)," he said.