CHANDIGARH: Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Wednesday slammed Amarinder Singh, calling him an “opportunist”. He was reacting to the former CM’s announcement to launch his own political outfit.
Randhawa accused Amarinder of betraying Punjab for four and a half years. “What did he do for farmers’ agitation during his tenure as chief minister? He did not meet Union ministers as often as he has done after stepping down,” he said. “Congress honoured him with posts, but he backstabbed (it). When Badals refused to give him party candidature, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal facilitated his entry into Congress. He has been with Congress for 23 years. He is an opportunist who only thinks of himself, his family and associates,” said Randhawa.
“It is because of him that the BSF jurisdiction has gone up to 50 kilometres,” said Randhawa, questioning the threat from ISI being cited by Amarinder Singh. “If Captain saabsays there is a threat from ISI, why was Aroosa (Alam) in CM’s residence for four years. Why did she go back to Pakistan when we turned against him?” he added.
He said he will seek an appointment with Amarinder. “I will take my colleagues along to ask him what our fault was. We had been pressing him for action on Bargari sacrilege, Kotkapura firing cases and Badal’s buses. We can have a debate with Amarinder and officials at the helm at that time. I opposed the move to table a white paper on PPAs as it would have favoured Badals,” said Randhawa. He condemned the incident involving Congress MLA Joginder Pal slapping a person in a viral video. “We are there to serve people. We will ask the MLA to stay in limits,” he said.
