Capt diverting attention from his failures: Ex-CM

CHANDIGARH: Former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday described his successor Capt Amarinder Singh’s allegations against him on the Behbal Kalan police firing as an “attempt to divert attention from his government’s total failure to deliver on poll promises”.

Badal said the CM’s statement also exposed the “real truth” behind his claims that the government was not going to indulge in vendetta against political opponents.

Amarinder had alleged that Badal was behind the “unwarranted police firing” during an anti-sacrilege protest in Faridkot in 2015. Two men had died during the firing.

The SAD leader also accused the chief minister of acting as spokesman of the commission of inquiry set up to probe the Behbal Kalan incident.

“What kind of inquiry will it be when the CM has already announced its findings? If you are the final judge on everything, why are you wasting public money on commissions?” he asked Amarinder.

The Akali Dal patron also rubbished Amarinder’s charge that it was the chief minister and not the police officer on the spot, who had to order firing. HTC