Delhi CM, Capt locked in bitter Twitter battle
CHANDIGARH: Tweet for a tweet, barb for a barb, political parties in Punjab seem to be warming up for polls with Twitter wars. In the latest, after a recent poll survey gave Congress an edge over the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the assembly polls due next year, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal upped the ante by launching a stinging attack at state Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh, both on the ground and social media.
Kejriwal, who unveiled his party’s manifesto for industry in Ludhiana on Sunday, had poked Amarinder by tweeting, “Sir, Badals closed corruption cases against u just a few months before elections. Why?” Amarinder had retorted by asking the Delhi chief minister to “set his own house in order, before he sets his sights on Punjab”.
Kejriwal fired yet another salvo on Monday morning: “Sir, ppl talking in Punjab that u using (Bikram Singh) Majithia’s drug money in ur campaign. Is it true? U had saved him from CBI enquiry 3 yrs back (sic).”
It was Kejriwal’s first visit after the state vigilance bureau earlier this month filed a closure report in the Amritsar Improvement Trust case in which Amarinder is a co-accused. The AAP is alleging a “deal” between deputy CM Sukhbir Badal’s brother-in-law Majithia and Amarinder, as the latter had opposed the demand for a CBI probe into the drug racket in which Majithia was named by the arrested kingpin, Jagdish Bhola.
Amarinder, who has recently appointed a media strategist to sharpen his verbal attacks, responded by saying the Delhi CM was “hallucinating” and “seeing stars during the day”. Referring to the recent poll survey, he tweeted, “When your hopes crash from 100 to 30 & still sliding, you’re bound to hallucinate & see things that don’t exist.”
He then threw Kejriwal the challenge for an open debate. Though accepting it, Kejriwal tried to singe Amarinder with yet another barb by suggesting names of four leaders in Punjab — HS Phoolka, Jarnail Singh, Bhagwant Mann and Gurpreet Ghuggi. This invited scorn from Amarinder who accused the Delhi CM of “chickening out”.
“Punjabis believe in leading from the front,not hiding behind others.Or have you already accepted that you can’t face me for a public debate?” Amarinder replied on Twitter.
Kejriwal answered, “I am not hiding behind anyone sir. I am ready for a debate with Rahul ji or Sonia ji anytime. Our punjab team will debate wid u (sic).”