It may soon be difficult for Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to have his cake, and eat it too. On the birthday of the Punjab patriarch, his arch rival and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has taken some icing off the cake by asking him “to quit as he had grown too old to govern the State”.
Extending his greetings to the five-time Chief Minister on Tuesday, the senior Congress leader minced no words to say that Badal was older than he was claiming, and he did not “deserve to be at the helm of affairs” for not even remembering his birth date. So far, celebrating birthdays was a cakewalk for Badal. In fact, he went on a cake cutting spree on his 87th birthday on Monday.
But Capt Amarinder Singh, with his “sarcastic greetings”, made attempts to tell Badal that celebrating birthdays from now on will not be a piece of cake; and he may end up eating a humble pie.
Whether his greetings sell like hot cakes among the people of Punjab is yet to be seen. But Badal, for sure, must be feeling the taste of rivalry. “It is high time for him to quit as he had grown too old to govern the State now,” he said.
Capt Amarinder criticized Badal for raising the bogey of “federalism” and “panthic-agenda” at the fag-end of his political career. “This is characteristic of Badal to raise such controversial issues whenever he feels politically threatened,” said Capt Amarinder, who had been in the Akali Dal from 1984 to 1992 with Badal, but later went on to become his arch enemy.
Badal’s political career started way back in 1947, the year Indian got freedom from the British rule. Starting from the grass-root level as sarpanch of his native village Badal, Badal has achieved a milestone by becoming Punjab’s Chief Minister for the record fifth time. “Even after spending over six decades in politics, Badal has not been able to come out of his mindset that was fixated in the past by over 50 years,” asserted Capt Amarinder, also an Amritsar MP.
“These are his cherished pastimes to brood over federalism, panthic agenda, industrial focal points, Adarsh schools and Sangat Darshan”, said the former Chief Minister. He added, that he “has never been able to come out of this mindset that resulted in the current mess the state has been placed in under his leadership”.
Taking a dig at Badal’s claims that he had forgotten his actual date of birth, Capt Amarinder said: “This again is characteristic of Badal to avoid any inconvenient question by either feigning ignorance or claiming to have forgotten”.
“A Chief Minister who cannot remember his birth date does not deserve to be at the helm of affairs for the obvious reasons,” said Capt Amarinder.
Questioning his claims that he was 87, Capt Amarinder pointed out that Badal was the classmate of his brother Raja Malwinder Singh’s father-in-law Sukhinderpal Singh Mann in FC College, lahore, who passed away recently at the age of 93.
“How come Sardar Mann was 93 and Badal is only 87 when they were in the same classIJ” wondered Capt Amarinder, while pointing out that Badal’s age must be recorded in his matriculation certificate and the records in FC College, lahore, also.
This is not for the first time the Capt Amarinder has raised doubts over Badal’s age. Before the state assembly polls in 2012, Capt Amarinder also raised the issue by bringing into light a “gaffe” on Badal’s part — growing eight years older in five years.
Capt Amarinder pointed that Badal, in his nomination papers to contest from lambi seat in 2012 polls, had mentioned his age as 84 years, while he had mentioned his age as 76 when he contested from the same constituency five years ago, in 2007.
Capt Amarinder, at that time, took a dig at Badal saying that he “never grows old. He was 80 in 2002. Ten years later, he is only 84”. Badal’s official date of birth was recorded as December 8, 1927, at Abul Khurana in Punjab during the time of British India.