It’s the clash of the titans. A day after Punjab’s former Chief Minster Rajinder Kaur Bhattal criticised her party colleague Capt Amarinder Singh over his support to Goods and Sales Tax (GST) Bill and other issues, the Congress Deputy leader in the lok Sabha hits back on Tuesday.
Ridiculing Bhattal's claims that he won with Akalis’ support from Amritsar, Capt Amarinder said: “Just because she always depends on and wins with Akalis' help from lehra Gagga Assembly segment by a slender margin does not mean that others will also be doing or needing to do the same thing.”
Amritsar MP, reacting to Bhattal's charge, said that he dismissed the same with the scorn they deserve. “For the sake of record, let me refresh her memory that Arun Jaitely was specifically invited by Badal and his son to contest from Amritsar with a promise of walkover and not to get him defeated at the cost of their prestige and credibility,” he said. Capt Amarinder said that he would not like to react to her other charges which only “betray the frustration of someone” in a situation like hers who has nothing to look forward to except the dark despair of political oblivion Bhattal is living through.
“Not just that, Badal pronounced Jaitely as the future Finance Minister of the country promising truckloads of money and spent maximum time campaigning there with Bikram Majithia taking charge of the election campaign,” he added.
Besides, Capt Amarinder pointed out that entire BJP and RSS cadre was there for Jaitely with Narendra Modi also addressing a rally in his support.
“Despite that, I won with over one lakh votes,” he remarked, adding, “if Bhattal still has any suspicions, she can clear them by choosing any constituency of her choice for me to contest from once more and look after my campaign to ensure no Akali supports me and I assure her, I will still win as I have full confidence in the love Punjabis have always showered on me against all odds,” he said.