A fresh war of word broke out between Congress MP Partap Singh Bajwa and Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday on State Advocate General Atul Nanda.
While Bajwa sought the immediate sacking of Punjab Advocate General for allegedly failing to defend the interests of the State "effectively" in courts, Capt Amarinder trashed the demand as illogical and irrational asked Partap Bajwa to “keep out of my Government’s business, of which you are totally ignorant.”
In a missive to Capt Amarinder, the Rajya Sabha MP said Nanda's appointment as the Advocate General was due to his proximity to the chief minister.
"Nepotism is against the interests of the State and the appointment of Atul Nanda as Advocate General, Punjab is a perfect example of the same, as his appointment had been solely guided by his proximity to you," Bajwa said.
He said the "incompetence of Nanda to defend the interests of the State effectively is reflected in the repeated failures he faced in the courts" in various cases, including those related to drug menace, mining, environment protection and sacrilege. Bajwa urged the Chief Minister to sack Nanda immediately and appoint a "competent person" in his place.
Taking strong exception to Bajwa’s open letter, listing out the alleged failures of the AG, the Chief Minister termed it a sign of the former Punjab Congress Chief’s desperation to grab political limelight. “I have full faith in the AG,” said Capt Amarinder.
“You are neither competent nor equipped to judge Atul Nanda’s competency, and have no business commenting or interfering on matters of which you have absolutely no knowledge,” said the Chief Minister to Bajwa, reacting sharply to the latter’s letter filled with “baseless allegations” against the AG.
Bajwa had posted his Rs open letter’ on his Twitter handle on Friday afternoon, listing out seven instances in which he alleged that the AG had failed to protect Punjab’s interest. It was noteworthy, said Capt Amarinder, that Atul Nanda had not even represented the Punjab Government in six of these cases, thus exposing the extent of Bajwa’s lack of awareness and clearly indicating that he had a personal axe to grind against the AG.
Dubbing Bajwa’s recent spate of attacks on him (the Chief Minister) and his Government as totally senseless and politically motivated, Capt Amarinder said the MP’s behaviour was becoming increasingly ridiculous. “Unless he (Bajwa) has a good explanation for such behaviour, which is clearly detrimental to the interests of his own party, one might even think he is working for the Opposition in Punjab,” said the Chief Minister.
Captain Amarinder asked Bajwa to stop giving opinions on issues that do not concern him and, instead, to focus on nurturing his constituency in the Rajya Sabha, in his own interest.
Punjab ministers had on January 14 sought disciplinary action against Bajwa for raising a "banner of revolt" against Capt Amarinder.