A day after former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh sought clarification by SAD-BJP’s candidate for Amritsar lok Sabha constituency, Arun Jaitley on Operation Bluestar among other things, the BJP stalwart on Wednesday hit back at his rival Congress candidate for being associated with those who engineered Operation Bluestar.
“Notwithstanding my opposition to terrorism and insurgency, I have always believed that Operation Bluestar was an ill-conceived and an ill-planned operation. Those who planned Operation Bluestar did not realise its adverse consequences. I have, in my earlier comments, referred to it as a ‘blunder’. There were other ways of achieving the goal. Capt Amarinder is a candidate of a party which planned and executed the Operation Bluestar,” stated Jaitley on his blog on Wednesday.
Maintaining that he was known for his opposition to terrorism, Jaitley said: “Terrorism and insurgency need to be fought and eliminated. I have been more aggressive against terror than most Indian politicians. My articles and speeches are all available on my website. If Capt Amarinder Singh chooses to read them he won't have asked me ill-informed questions on my stand on honouring terrorism or terrorists.”
Assailing his rival, Jaitley added that the ‘reluctant’ Captain obeyed dictates of his party president to contest elections from Amritsar notwithstanding the fact that his party president represents the legacy of those culpable for Operation Bluestar.
“Capt should have refused. Why is Capt associated with a party responsible for BluestarIJ What compelled him to return to that party and accept the dictates of those who have inherited the legacy of the guiltIJ” Jaitley asked the senior congress leader on his blog.
Capt Amarinder had earlier hit hard at Jaitley asking him to explain his stand on the Operation Bluestar. He had rather asked Jaitley what was his stand on the Bluestar memorial built recently by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee backed by Shiromani Akali Dal, which is the alliance partner of the BJP.
Couples of days ago, when the Jaitley was questioned on the issue, he remained mum seeing that his open opposition to the memorial might alienate the Sikh voters who command clear majority in the Amritsar lok Sabha seat. The memorial is being considered as an act that glorifies those who were killed in the operation. BJP state unit, which is sharing power with the Akalis, had opposed the memorial.