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Referring to leaks by the Vigilance to the media, alleging that Amarinder had blamed his Cabinet colleagues Ch Jagjit and Raghunath Sahai Puri and former Amritsar Improvement Trust chairman Jugal Kishore for the so-called Improvement Trust “scandal”, Amarinder said he took full responsibility of all the decisions taken by his government.
In a statement issued from Delhi, Amarinder reiterated that “as the chief minister I take the full responsibility of all decisions taken during my tenure and there is no question of my shifting the blame on to my colleagues, whether in the party or the government”.
The former chief minister lashed out at the Vigilance officials for their “malicious campaign aimed at defaming him at the behest of their political masters like Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Badal”.
Amarinder pointed out that the timing of the questioning and the “selective and distorted leaks” to the media were quite understandable. He claimed that the Badals were panicking over the recent success of his mass contact programmes across the state. “Now they are trying to use all unethical means to divert public attention. But they will never succeed, come what may,” Amarinder asserted.
Congress not as united as it seems: Dullo
Despite repeated attempts by leaders to project a united front, Punjab Congress remains a divides house. Former Punjab Congress chief Shamsher Singh Dullo, was vocal about the differences here today. He was here to attend a function to mark Guru Ravi Dass Jayanti. He said, "Even though Congress leaders had come together on one platform, their hearts had not met." Dullo had uttered some words at a recent rally held in Fatehgah Sahib too, which had embarrassed the state unit quite a bit. "Had we remained united, the Congress would have formed the government in Punjab", he had said, which he reiterated today. He said that while "party-hoppers" were getting the backing of senior leaders, party workers who had contributed to the party's success and fought against terrorism in the state were being "sidelined". In a veiled reference to former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who initiated the process of inducting disgruntled Akalis into the Congress ahead of the last assembly polls, Dullo said, "The Akalis who have joined the Congress must not attempt to capture the party." He accused the "turncoats" of aiding terrorism in the past. On the speculation over former Congress MP Gurcharan Singh Ghalib possibly joining the SAD, Dullo termed him an opportunist.
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