With Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal pitching for Arun Jaitley as Deputy Prime Minister, the senior BJP leader on Saturday played down the suggestion indicating that he was not looking for any positions.
The controversial statement by Badal at a rally organised in Amritsar on Friday stoked fire in the ruling NDA causing Jaitley to do the firefighting. Explaining his position to the media, Jaitley said, “These are comments made in the course of a campaign. I can assure you I am not looking for any positions.” In the anxiety to see Jaitley emerge victorious in his maiden political battle from Amritsar, Badal had said, “If voted to power, he (Jaitley) will be Deputy Prime Minister or Finance Minister”.
With the comment having come from a strategic alliance partner of the NDA, Jaitley sought to play down the Akali leader’s statement. Jaitley said, “I think what he (Badal) probably has in mind is quite legitimate... A lot of people who have met me in Amritsar also believe that Amritsar and Punjab need a good voice at the Centre and probably that is one of the expectations from me.” He also took a dig at Congress for fielding a “reluctant” Amarinder Singh against him. “Congress has finally announced its candidate from Amritsar. They have named a reluctant Amarinder Singh. My best wishes to him... I will promise the people of Amritsar that I shall provide a better voice for them,” he wrote in his blog. Amritsar, he said, is looking for an effective voice at the Centre and people’s “expectation” from him is that he would be that voice.
“With humility and modesty, I must say that I am reasonably qualified to be that effective voice of this region in Delhi,” Jaitley said. He, however, stressed that he was not looking for any position. “It’s a storm in a teacup. Everybody knows these are comments made in the course of campaigning and as I have said, I have never looked for a position”. Contesting his first parliamentary polls, the leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha said he would contest in a dignified manner in keeping with the best traditions of democracy and hoped the best man wins.