Badal fears BJP may walk out of govt, claims Amarinder Singh
Wednesday, 29/10/2014
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20141029/punjab.htm#2
Patiala : Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh today claimed that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had raked the issue of transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab only because he feared that the BJP might walk out of the government. He pointed out to the treatment meted out to Badal at Manohar Lal Khattar’s swearing-in ceremony. However, the SAD said the SAD-BJP alliance was intact.
“Knowing Badal well, I am sure he will start saying that the Panth is in danger the moment he realises that the Chandigarh ploy is not working,” Amarinder Singh alleged. He said Badal could go up to any extent to exploit the sentiments of the people, as he had done in the past, pushing Punjab into turmoil.
The former Chief Minister said Badal was shedding crocodile tears over Chandigarh as all these years he had abandoned the issue. “Thanks to the Punjabi Suba movement, Punjab not only lost Chandigarh but most of its land too,” he said.
“While Badal is today crying hoarse over Punjab waters, it was he (Badal) who as Chief Minister in 1977-78 had accepted Rs 2 crore from his Haryana counterpart, Devi Lal, for constructing the SYL canal. Later, he launched a movement against the SYL in 1980 when he was out of power,” he alleged.
State Education Minister Daljit Cheema said that there was no threat to the SAD-BJP government and that Capt Amarinder Singh was “day-dreaming.” He said the issue of Chandigarh had always been on SAD’s agenda.
BJP stand questioned
While BJP's Punjab unit is seeking the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab, its Chandigarh unit is vigorously opposing it. The BJP must clarify its stand on the issue or else the people will think that the party is only playing politics over the matter.Capt Amarinder Singh, amritsar mp
