Coming down heavily on the ‘Patiala Royal’ Capt Amarinder Singh for being “discourteous and rude”, his SAD-BJP rival from Amritsar lok Sabha seat Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said that the politics of Congress leader reflected his “feudal mindset”.
Stating that his Congress rival has been caught “lying with a straight face” on the issues of property tax and Jagdish Tytler, Jaitley also charged that Capt Amarinder lived in a “world of sycophants”.“The politics of Congress candidate from Amritsar lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh only reflects his feudal instincts. He still lives in a world of sycophants where he is referred to as ‘Maharaja Sahib’. He is discourteous and rude. He believes that discourtesy has given him the image of being dabangg,” Jaitley wrote in his campaign diary.
He said: “He is not the best practitioner of ethical values. What is amazing is his ability to be extremely economical with the truth.”Raking up the property tax issue, he said that Capt Amarinder was caught being “untruthful” on the matter. “The tax was levied on the basis of his undertaking dated December 7, 2006, to the Central Government. I produced before the media the file carrying his signatures of approval. He ignored the truth and could bluntly lie that he did not approve it,” said Jaitley.
“The whole country saw him stand up and defend Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 riots case in an interview to a news channel. He today denies that he ever gave Tytler a clean chit. He, in a monarchical style, shouts down criticism and refuses to take questions,”he added.
“Having been caught lying with the straight face on the property tax and the Jagdish Tytler issue, any other candidate would have been put to shame before the people. But this emperor, even when caught without clothes, has the ability to look at you in the eye. This feudalism must be defeated,” Jaitley said.
Talking about the BJP campaign, he said, “There is clarity in the campaign… The acceptability of the leader is extremely high. The groundswell seems to be building up not only in our traditional support areas but also in those regions where our strength is relatively marginal”.“As against this, the Congress campaign is more abstract and confused. The leadership is non-inspirational, anti incumbency is hurting them significantly,” he claimed.
“Jaitley resorting to half truths; mask of decency wearing off,” said Amarinder. Former Chief Minister and Congress candidate from Amritsar Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said that his SAD-BJP rival candidate Arun Jaitley was repeatedly resorting to half truths like a “third rate liar” in the hope that it might be taken as truth.
“Whether it is the issue of property tax or the statement about Jagdish Tytler, a desperate and frustrated Jaitley is trying to distort and twist facts as he has nothing else to speak on,” said the senior Congress leader.lashing out at the language Jaitley has been using in his campaign diary against him, Capt Amarinder said: “His (Jaitley’s) mask of decency is wearing off and he has started betraying his frustration and arrogance.”
Referring to Jaitley’s Tuesday’s campaign diary, he said: “I leave it for the people to read it and judge who is bringing down the level of the discourse and who is rude and discourteous.”
On the Jagdish Tytler issue, Capt Amarinder reiterated that he had only stated what people had told him. “I have nowhere given clean chit to Tytler but only said that none of the riot victims I met immediately after the riots named him,” he asserted, while adding, “Jaitley, as a lawyer, should know it that giving a clean chit or holding someone guilty is for the courts to decide and not someone like me.”