Capt Amarinder To Take Up Sidhu Issue Soon With Congress High Command - RozanaSpokesman
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday
said he would soon take up with the Congress high command the issue of Navjot
Singh Sidhu’s damaging remarks ahead of polling in Punjab, which he said might
have affected the party’s performance in Bathinda. The Chief Minister also said
the performance of the ministers would be reviewed in the backdrop of the Lok
Sabha results in the state.
“We will review the performance of the ministers, it was not
a veiled threat made by the party before the elections,” he told media persons at a press conference this afternoon. Though he refused to comment directly on
the possible impact of Sidhu’s comments on the Congress performance in Punjab,
Captain Amarinder said as a minister, Sidhu’s own performance needed to be
reviewed.
Asserting that Navjot Singh Sidhu had not been
able to handle his department, the Chief Minister made it clear that he
intended to take up the issue with the high command once things have settled
down in the party, post the election results. The Congress in Punjab performed
poorly in urban areas, and Sidhu was the minister for urban development,
Captain Amarinder pointed out, adding that while everyone had the right to
promote themselves in a democracy, it was wrong on his part to made the
controversial comments once the battle had started.
Referring to Sidhu’s remarks on the investigation into the
sacrilege cases, the Chief Minister said the minister evidently did not
understand that the SIT was set up by the Vidhan Sabha and it was thus the body
which had to complete the probe. The Chief Minister also reiterated that
Sidhu’s `yari and jhappi’ (friendship and hugs) with the Pakistani Army Chief
would not be tolerated, especially by Army personnel, who were being killed by
ISI-backed terrorists while he was going hugging their leaders.
Captain Amarinder rejected the suggestion of detrimental
impact to the Congress by party leader Pratap Singh Bajwa, saying the party had
won in the areas in which he was said to have some influence. Thanking the
Congress workers, its leaders and all Punjabi for the party’s victory in
Punjab, Captain Amarinder said he would do everything to live up to the
people’s expectations.
Captain Amarinder said Punjab
Congress would introspect on why three areas in Bathinda proved to be weak for
the party and also why Sunil Jakhar lost to Sunny Deol in Gurdaspur despite his
hard work. “I do not understand the people’s preference for a Bollywood star
over an experienced leader,” he said, hoping the Indian democracy would evolve
more in the coming years.
On Hoshiarpur, the Chief Minister blamed the Congress defeat
to votes being shifted to BSP, which proved a deciding factor in this
constituency and affected the margins in some others. Overall, the people
of Punjab had responded to the government’s development and welfare programmes,
including farm debt waiver and employment generation, said Captain Amarinder.
Sacrilege certainly worked against Badal, he said to a question, adding that
Hindutva did not impact the polls in Punjab.
On AAP’s Bhagwant Mann’s victory, the Chief
Minister attributed it to his own standing and not to his party, which was
politically completely eliminated. Captain Amarinder trashed a suggestion that
the Congress party’s nation-wide performance had raised questions on Rahul’s
leadership, saying he had worked closely with Rahul, whom he found to be a fine
leader.
The Chief Minister also rejected
charges of dynastic politics by the Congress, saying Rahul was never thrust on
the people but was duly elected. The Chief Minister said while Modi had won the
elections, he felt the prime minister should not do anything to destroy India’s
secular credentials. He said he did not agree with the brand of nationalism
being promoted by BJP, as every citizen of India was a nationalist and the
nation’s strength lay in its diversity.
He made it clear that giving Modi
the credit for Balakot was totally wrong as other leaders before him, including
Indira Gandhi in 1971, had taken such strong actions and given due credit to
the armed forces. In response to a question on EVMs, Captain Amarinder said he
has first raised the issue when MS Gill was the chief election commissioner. No
developed country was using EVMs, he pointed out, adding that the possibility
of the machines being compromised could not be ruled out.
Comments
Post a Comment