Don’t politicise Op Bluestar, Amarinder tells Jaitley

Friday, 28/03/2014

http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=98316&boxid=58277&uid=&dat=2014-03-28

Former Chief Minister and Congress candidate from Amritsar, Capt Amarinder Singh warned Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia against intimidating and arm-twisting Congress workers in Amritsar.

“Bikram has turned out to be the most undistinguished person from a distinguished family,” he said and told him to remember that time was running out and it was a matter of less than three years when he will be held accountable for all his sins of omission and commission.

“Let me make it clear to you that these very police officials whom you are using to intimidate and arm-twist Congress workers will be unleashed on you,” he said.

About Majithia’s “concern” that Amarinder had still not landed in Amritsar, Capt said that he well understands Majithia’s ignorance that has sprouted out of his illiteracy. “He should know that it takes time to plan things before executing them,” he remarked, while adding that whether he comes weeks after the announcement of his candidature, there will be no change in the love and affection that people of Amritsar have for him.

Amritsar: Former Chief Minister and Congress candidate from Amritsar Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday asked his BJP rival, Arun Jaitley, whether he had included or excluded Amritsar parliamentary constituency from the BJP’s now famous “160 club”.
In a statement issued here on Thursday, Capt Amarinder revealed that it was a well- known fact that Jaitley was one of the chief architects of the BJP’s “160 club” which did not want the party to win more than 160 seats to queer pitch for Narendra Modi.
He pointed out that people like Jaitley and few others hoped that in case the party got less than 160 seats it would be difficult for Modi to become the PM. “People of Amritsar would like Jaitley to clarify these charges against him,” he said, while adding, “a man who cannot be loyal to his own party and own leader cannot be loyal to people of Amritsar either”.

However, former Punjab chief minister asserted that Jaitley and his club would not need to really work that hard to keep the party tally below 160 and assured him that he would guarantee that BJP did not cross 150 seats even.

The senior Congress leader also had a dig at the Akalis, the self-professed and proclaimed patrons of Jaitley, saying that they were trying to show themselves to be more loyal than the king. He advised the overexcited Akali leaders to better first ask Jaitley whether he was really interested and serious about winning Amritsar lest it subverted his “160 club” plan. “In any case, he is not going to win from Amritsar and hence my advice to you is not to try to be more loyal than the king,” he advised the Akalis.
Capt Amarinder said it was perfectly in accordance with the “160 club” game plan that the senior leaders of the party like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Jaswant Singh were humiliated and being cut to size. He also referred to Jaitely’s recent criticism of his own party colleague Jaswant Singh who had given his life and blood to the BJP and was now being humiliated so shamelesslywithout having any respect for his seniority, contribution and long standing association with the party. DP
Congress candidate from Amritsar Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday warned BJP candidate Arun Jaitley against seeking political mileage out of Operation Bluestar. He told Jaitley to better exercise restraint and not rake up the old issues for petty political gains lest these should open old wounds.

“Let me tell you, your party BJP and your ally Badal are as much responsible for the tragedy of Operation Bluestar and terrorism as anyone else,” he told Jaitley in clear terms while advising him not to drag this sensitive issue beyond the limits. “Punjab has put this tragedy behind and moved ahead,” he told Jaitley while advising him not to try to sabotage and derail the peace.
The former Chief Minister said Jaitley might be a very good lawyer but he seemed to have a poor historic memory as he mixed up facts about Operation Bluestar with the terrorist violence that followed it in Punjab.

In a statement issued here, Capt Amarinder said quite contrary to what Jaitley was saying, Operation Bluestar preceded terrorism in Punjab that led to killing of about 35,000 innocent persons. He said Operation Bluestar was not the consequence of terrorism as Jaitley would like people to believe. Rather it was other way round, he said.

The former Chief Minister asked Jaitley, before questioning the Congress for being responsible for the Operation Bluestar, he should ask people like LK Advani and Parkash Singh Badal. He pointed out Advani had proudly written in his autobiography, ‘My Country My Life’, that he and his party, the BJP, pressurised Indira Gandhi to send Army into Golden Temple.

Besides, he added it has had been established beyond any doubt that Badal recommended Army action in Golden Temple during his meeting with then Union Home Minister P V Narsimha Rao on March 28, 1984. He said this was very much mentioned in the Government of India White Paper that Badal held a secret meeting with Rao, which he was not authorised to do. “Badal after recommending military action went into hiding for two weeks and emerged only to get himself arrested to remain in the safe custody of the police”, he disclosed while pointing out, “Badal has no courage to deny it”.