The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday asked the Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh to act as strong as he pretended to be and face the law rather than acting like a cry baby and playing victim after being caught stashing black money in Swiss bank accounts and trusts.
“It is shameful that Capt Amarinder is accusing Union Minister Arun Jaitely of indulging in political vendetta after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had summoned his son Raninder Singh to question him as to why he had lied to the agency that he was not a beneficiary of any Trust formed by his father in the United Kingdom,” said SAD spokesperson and Cabinet Minister Daljit Singh Cheema.
“Instead of crying wolf and trying to blame others for your black deeds, it is better you explain why you formed the Jacaranda Trust in the first place. Explain to the people of Punjab why you opened bank accounts in Swiss banks. Why were lakhs of dollars transferred into these accounts when you were chief minister of PunjabIJ” he said.
Stating that the law was a great leveller, Cheema said that the time had come for Amarinder to face the law as a common criminal.
Asking Amarinder to get out of his gilded cage and see the reality for himself, the SAD leader said this was not the lone case in which Amarinder and his family were being hauled up as per the law of the land.
“Your name has earlier figured in the Intranet scam, the Amritsar Improvement Trust scam and the ludhiana city scam. Few of these cases involving massive corruption and misuse of power are still in court. You need to explain to the people of Punjab whether these cases have also been initiated against you on the orders of Arun Jaitely or the law of the land as is the case in which your son has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate,” he added.
Cheema said that the truth of the matter was that Capt Amarinder and his family were one of the rare cases in Indian politics where every member of the family used his or her powers to loot the wealth of the nation.
“A person and family facing such grave allegations of personal dishonesty has no right to be in public life,” said Cheema adding that Amarinder should apologise to the people of Punjab for his misconduct and exit public life immediately.
Meanwhile, reiterating the SAD’s demand to bring back black money from foreign shores, Cheema also demanded that the ED look into the expenditures of Amarinder’s family as well as their known sources of income to know how he had acquired his wealth.