Bishan Singh Bedi bats for Captain Amarinder
Saturday, 19/04/2014
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=100390&boxid=58612&uid=&dat=2014-04-19
Amritsar: Famous cricketer and former captain of the Indian cricket team Bishan Singh Bedi on Friday announced his support for Capt Amarinder Singh, the Congress candidate from Amritsar. Bedi, who arrived here alongwith a group of his supporters, said, Capt Amarinder is the best leader to represent Amritsar.
Addressing a press conference here in the presence of Capt Amarinder Singh along with his colleagues Ashok Arora and Akash Lal, Bedi said, “Capt Amarinder is the greatest son of the soil and it would be the privilege for the people of
Amritsar to have him from this Parliament seat. “I as a Punjabi owe and express him my gratitude to having agreed to contest from here”, he said, adding, “I have come to perform the ‘ardas’ to the Almighty that he may win and provide the best leadership and representation to the people of Amritsar.”
He pointed out, Jaitley had only practised boardroom politics while Capt Amarinder had extensive experience lasting for about five decades. “I remember him being the Chief Minister of Punjab for five years which were the best years of the state”, he said.
Bedi’s associate, Ashok Arora, with whom he has formed an NGO working for transparency, said that Arun Jaitley’s record was not at all clean. He pointed out, he had messed up the affairs of the Delhi District Cricket Association whose working is being investigated by the Serious Fraud
Investigation Cell. “A man who could not efficiently manage a small cricketing club has no right to represent the people of a holy and historic city like Amritsar,” Arora remarked.
He said, for a long time, Jaitley had established monopoly over the DDCA and was winning the election by managing the proxy votes. He said, when the tide started turning against him he opted out and got one of his close associates elected. He disclosed that the Supreme Court of India had passed serious strictures against the DDCA functioning under Jaitley and also questioned the rationale of non-cricketing people controlling the cricketing body. Arora asked Jaitely as why he chose not to contest from Delhi. Referring to Jaitley’s claims of being a Punjabi he remarked, “West Delhi constituency is a Punjabi dominated why he did not opt for that constituency?” It was simply because he did not have the moral courage to face the people of Delhi as they knew him very well and would have exposed him there, he added.