Bhattal roots for Capt, says Cong govt will fulfil promises

LUDHIANA : Former Punjab chief minister and veteran Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal has supported Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh in the ongoing war of words between him and party’s Rajya Sabha member Partap Singh Bajwa.

Even local party MP Ravneet Singh Bittu has targeted his own government over issues like the economy, saying that the state’s coffers are empty. Bajwa has openly accused the CM of nepotism, and has sought the sacking of advocate general Atul Nanda.

“The grand old party has given everybody the freedom to express their disagreement, but such issues should be taken up at an appropriate platform,” said Bhattal, in town to attend a state-level blood donation camp organised to mark the death anniversary of former minister Joginder Pal Pandey. She added, “The Congress is committed to serve people of the state under the leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh. The Capt Amarinder Singh government will fulfil all its promises before its completes its five years.”

She blamed the recent power tariff hike on the previous SADBJP

regime. “When the SAD was thrown out, it left the coffers empty. Even the subsidies were not returned by the Centre, which ultimately forced the government to hike the tariff of power,” she claimed.

She also slammed the Modi regime for indulging in politics of polarisation by the introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). “The bill was tabled and then implemented in a clandestine manner,” she alleged, claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had become a puppet in the hands of Union home minister Amit Shah.

“Amit Shah brings out a formulae from the bag and PM Modi blindly approves it. It is ironic that even many of the BJP MLAs were not aware of the CAA. This is not how the country could be run,” she said.

HER REACTION CAME AFTER RAJYA SABHA MP PARTAP BAJWA TOOK POTSHOTS AT CM FOR ALLEGED NEPOTISM AND FAILURE TO FULFIL PRE-POLL PROMISES