Captain, Jaitley and the war of words

Thursday, 27/03/2014

http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=98260&boxid=57910&uid=&dat=2014-03-27

Former Chief Minister and Congress candidate from Amritsar Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday hit back at SAD-BJP candidate Arun Jaitley for raising a finger at the Congress decision to give tickets to leaders against whom there were criminal allegations.

In a statement, Capt retorted, “If you (the BJP) can project a tainted leader like Narendra Modi, who presided over the massacre of hundreds of innocent people in Gujarat, as the Prime Minister, what moral right you have to question the Congress for fielding people like Pawan Kumar Bansal or Ashok Chavan?”

The former Punjab chief minister also blasted the myth of Modi getting the clean chit. He said that legal acquittal does not necessarily establish the innocence, and certainly not in Modi’s case. “Modi has been acquitted of the charges for lack of evidence. This does not prove that he is innocent,” Amarinder said, adding, “Not proved guilty does not necessarily mean not guilty.” He said that anybody can make out how easy it is for the chief minister of a state to tamper with the evidence so that his guilt cannot be proved in the court.

About the case pending against him in a Ludhiana court to which Jaitely had referred, Amarinder said that it was a clear case of political vendetta unleashed by his allies on him and his party workers. “I have full faith in our judicial system and am confident to come clean on it,” he said.
DP Correspondent
Amritsar

The war of words between SAD-BJP candidate from Amritsar Arun Jaitley and Congress nominee Captain Amarinder Singh reached its peak on Wednesday over Operation Bluestar.

Attack and counter-attack has been going on between both the opponents for the last few days. On Wednesday, Jaitley once again used his blog to pass a statement over Captain’s remark about Operation Bluestar targeting him. Jaitley wrote “I speak regularly on political issues. I have been writing on a regular basis in newspapers and on the Facebook. I give regular interviews to the media. My opposition to terrorism is well known.”

“Terrorism and insurgency need to be fought and eliminated. I have been more aggressive against terror than most Indian politicians. My articles and speeches are all available on my website. If Captain Amarinder Singh chooses to read them, he will not ask me ill-informed questions on my stand on honouring terrorism and terrorists. Obviously, I am opposed to it,” wrote Jaitley.

Further, Jaitley wrote that the political party responsible for the attack was not aware of its consequences. “Notwithstanding my opposition to terrorism and insurgency, I have always believed that Operation Bluestar was an ill-conceived and an ill-planned operation. Those who planned Operation Bluestar did not realise the adverse consequences of the Operation. I have in my earlier comments referred to it as a ‘blunder’. There were other ways of achieving the goal,” said he who also wrote that Captain represents the party that was responsible for the attack. He wrote that Amarinder had obeyed the diktats of his party president to contest the elections from Amritsar notwithstanding the fact that his party president represents the legacy of those culpable for Operation Bluestar.

After Jaitley, it was the Captain’s turn to take up the issue. He pointed out, “While I need no certificate from you about my stand on Operation Bluestar, let me tell you that the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh have apologised for it many times. But tell me, have the BJP and LK Advani, who proudly claim they pressed Indira Gandhi to send Army to the Golden Temple, ever apologised or expressed any regrets?”

Hitting back on Jaitley for claiming to be an opponent of terrorism, Capt remarked, “He has only vindicated my charge that he has double standards as he says/writes something and actually does quite contrary to that.”

Amarinder reiterated that Jaitely was trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. “If he is so aggressively opposed to terrorism, how come he banks on the support of the same people who have built a memorial to the Operation Bluestar?” he asked, while adding, “That is why I have been saying that you have double standards that you preach something and do something else”.