Asserting that Parkash Singh Badal was squarely responsible for the Operation Bluestar and the subsequent sequence of tragic events in the state, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh today said, his hands were smeared in blood of innocent Punjabis. He said, Mr Badal always exploited events and situations to his personal advantage at the cost of national interest.
Capt Amarinder, along with the local MP and Minister of State for External Affairs Ms Perneet Kaur, was here to interact with the workers of three assembly segments of Patiala Rural, Shatrana and Samana. He will spend full day on Tuesday with the people of his own assembly segment, Patiala City.
Replying to questions during a press conference on Mr Badal’s allegations against him, Capt Amarinder said, he was not answerable to him (Mr Badal) as people of Punjab already knew about his role during that period and afterwards. He said, Mr Badal should be ashamed of his own role which is full of intrigue, betrayals and backstabbing. “He conspired with Gurcharan Singh Tohra to betray Sant Harchand Singh Longowal and later betrayed even Tohra also to have full control over Akali Dal”, he pointed out.
Posing a counter question to Mr Badal, Capt Amarinder asked him to explain what was his role during those days and explain it to the people of Punjab. “Mr Badal would always put up morchas,get himself arrested to hide in the safe havens of government rest houses, get people killed and come out to assume leadership and become Chief Minister”, the PCC President said, while asserting that Mr Badal had no moral authority to comment or question anybody’s role.
On the issue of SGPC elections, the PCC President made it clear that the Congress had no role to play in it. He said, however, he will like the Akalis to be defeated in these elections as they had indulged in loot and robbery in the SGPC. He said, the entire exercise of making votes for SGPC election was questionable as only limited votes were made.
He also questioned the appointment of the daughter of HS Brar, the chairman of the Sikh Gurdwara Election Commission as the Deputy Advocate General in Punjab. When asked whether the Congress will ask its supporters to vote for or against particular candidate, he said, it was their individual choice and the party had no role in it.
Replying to a question about the creation of new districts of Pathankot and Fazilka, Capt Amarinder said, his party was not opposed to it and it welcomed the decision as these help in providing relief to people. However, he added, the current government’s decision was politically motivated as they should have done it earlier and not at the fag-end of their tenure.
The PCC President maintained that the private sector had an important role in building up Punjab’s economy. He said, it can help everywhere be it in procurement, infrastructure development or agriculture diversification. However, he added, everything needs to be done in a proper and transparent manner.
On the issue of finalising the candidates for the coming elections, Capt Amarinder said, the process had not started as yet. He, however, added that the party was getting some surveys done to assess the issues across the state. He said, the PCC’s role in selecting the candidates would be limited to recommending them to the Congress President who will take the final decision.
Prominent among those present on the occasion included PCC vice president Mr Laal Singh, MLAs Brahm Mohindra, Kaka Randeep Nabha, Nirmal Singh, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Hardayal Kambhoj, PK Puri and others.
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