“Many of the decisions of the government were taken by him only. By making him deputy CM, the senior Badal has legalised the acts of Sukhbir,” Capt Amarinder Singh said. “Earlier I did not comment on the issue (elevation of Sukhbir as Deputy CM), as I consider Sukhbir a non issue,” said the former CM, paying the junior Badal in the same coin. At the Republic Day function in Patiala, Sukhbir Badal had termed Capt Amarinder ‘a non-entity’.

Capt Amarinder Singh, who had come to appear in the Ludhiana City Centre case, said, “Even we had appointed Rajinder Kaur Bhattal as deputy CM during our government. But we did so quietly, and did not waste money like the Badals did recently at the swearing-in ceremony of Sukhbir. That function was merely a wastage of public money.”

Capt Amarinder, who is the chairman of the election campaign committee of Congress, said that PPCC will set up a panel for selecting candidates for each Lok Sabha constituency, and then the party high command will announce it’s candidates. “My job is to campaign for the party and to convince the people to vote for Congress,” Capt added.

The former CM was accompanied by his son Raninder Singh, their close relative Raminder Singh Richy, former Cabinet minister Chaudhary Jagjit Singh and some other senior leaders of Congress. Later the case was adjourned for March 14. A number of Congress leaders and supporters had come to the courts premises in support of the former chief minister.

Meanwhile, in a major respite for Harpreet Sandhu, former Additional Advocate General (AAG) of Punjab, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), United Kingdom, has urged the Indian government to ensure protection to Sandhu over his implication in the LCC case, and being made a victim to face the heat of the political rivalry of the present and former chief ministers in Punjab.