Chandigarh, Nov 26 (IANS) Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday lashed out at Congress secretary in-charge of Punjab, Harish Chaudhary, over his baseless accusations of being hand in glove with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, when he was the Chief Minister.
Amarinder Singh said in a statement here that although he owed no explanation to "an out of job legislator who has been sacked as a minister in Rajasthan for being named as an accused in murder case of Kamlesh Prajapat, in Barmer, and inquiry for which has been handed over to the CBI by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Ghelot", he still wanted to set the record straight.
"Had I had any understanding with the Prime Minister or the BJP when I was the Chief Minister, I would not have supported the farmers' agitation and demanded repealing of the agriculture laws and passed law in the Vidhan Sabha against these", Amarinder clarified.
He said as the Chief Minister and Home Minister of Punjab, he was supposed to meet the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister and so were his ministers who would meet their central counterparts.
"Even your new CM has met the PM and the Home Minister, and from your senseless logic then he should also be having an understanding with the BJP and waiting to be sacked", he taunted Chaudhary.
Amarinder Singh said it was for the first time that a party in-charge had made the state as his permanent abode.
"I have worked with 14 party in-charges like Pranab Mukherjee, Mohsina Kidwai, Janaradhan Dwivedi to name a few, and they would rarely interfere, leave aside visiting or settling down in Punjab", he recalled, while pointing out, "a party in-charge is not supposed to settle down in the state he is assigned but to facilitate interaction and feedback to the high command".
But, he added, here is a man, who has been sacked from the government for being named as an accused in a murder case in his home state, and is enjoying "Chief Ministerial power and privileges in Punjab, turning the Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi into a rubber stamp, by dictating terms to him".
He said Chaudhary has even been attending the Cabinet and other meetings of officers, which is illegal and unconstitutional.
The former Chief Minister questioned the legality of his getting a ministerial bungalow in Chandigarh and the entire Punjab Bhavan at his disposal, from where he commands and dictates orders to the Chief Minister, other ministers and the officers.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Amarinder Singh said his government would be happy to work in conjunction with the Centre to ensure adherence to proper Covid-19 protocols, including testing and vaccination of pilgrims using the corridor.
A CBI spokesperson here said that the agency sleuths carried out searches at the premises of Eastern Coalfields Ltd General Manager Subhash Mukhopadhyay, retired General Manager Sushanta Banerjee, colliery agent H.C. Moitra, Manager, Security, Mukesh Kumar, and Inspector, Security, Rinku Behra.
Former Congress President and Sonia Gandhi's son, Rahul Gandhi, was also present during the meeting. The meeting was held at Sonia Gandhi's residence at 10 Janpath here.
The Prime Minister conveyed his warm greetings to President Biden and Vice President Harris and his appreciation for the initiatives taken by President Biden including those related to the Quad, Covid-19 and climate change.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) to cancel or revisit all the "one-sided" pacts with private companies that are not contractually obligated to supply sufficient power to meet the state's peak demand during the paddy sowing and summer season.
