By Jaideep Sarin, IANS,
Chandigarh : With Punjab’s opposition Congress party talking of an “eye for an eye” after the parliamentary elections, the political temperature in the state has risen well before the onset of summer.
The no-holds barred political fight between Congress leader Amarinder Singh and the ruling Akali Dal in Punjab has turned bitter with Singh vowing to avenge each of the “atrocities” on Congress leaders and workers by the Akali-run government.
Amarinder Singh, the former chief minister of Punjab and scion of the erstwhile princely family of Patiala, is more famous for his royal style of functioning but has a vast political mass base in the state. He has now warned the Akali leaders to be prepared to face the music when the Congress returns to power.
“I will avenge each and every instance of persecution unleashed on the Congressmen by these Akalis. I shall personally ensure that. We will return all their actions one and a half times – just as Punjabis do while giving a wedding return gift,” Singh told IANS. He is now on a tour of Punjab.
Incidentally, Singh was himself an Akali Dal leader before he switched to the Congress several years ago and has become the best known face among Congress leaders in the state.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, had faced corruption cases in 2002-03 when the Congress led by Amarinder Singh was in power. They had to spend a few days in prison as well.
After coming to power in the state in March 2007, the Badal government has slapped corruption cases through the vigilance department against Singh and his former cabinet colleagues.
The Punjab Congress has already prepared a dossier of “irrefutable proof” of the Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance government’s “vendetta” against the Congress.
“This document has over 3,700 FIRs (first information reports, i.e., police complaints) registered against our party workers by this government. It will also carry photos and details of the 47 Congressmen killed by the Akali Dal goondas (thugs),” Amarinder Singh said.
The Congress will be submitting this document to the Election Commission of India this month to support its demand that the whole of Punjab be declared ‘sensitive’ for the Lok Sabha polls “as the Akali-BJP combine could try to rig the polls”, the former chief minister said. The Lok Sabha elections are expected in April-May.
The Congress wants the poll to be held in the presence of paramilitary forces in the state. The party is more apprehensive after Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal took over as deputy chief minister and home minister last month.
That move has brought the state police under the command of Badal junior.
“With his taking over, our worst fears of misusing the state police could come true,” a sitting Congress legislator said here.
Amarinder Singh, who was chief minister during 2002-07, is evidently bullish on the Congress prospects in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
The Badal government was on the defensive recently after an official ‘top secret’ communication from a senior police official sought intelligence inputs from the police force about the political scenario in the state.
The letter even sought information from the police on “smugglers and criminals who commanded a vote bank in their areas and could help the Badal government”.
(Jaideep Sarin can be contacted at [email protected])