Amarinder takes on Badal over Blue Star
The former Punjab CM is researching a book on Punjab, which will talk about the dark days of terrorism.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is back in the political scene as the principal opponent of the current CM Parkash Singh Badal ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Amarinder is researching a book on Punjab, including the dark days of terrorism. He asked Badal to reveal if he did not give the green signal to then Home Minister Narsimha Rao on 28 March 1984, for an operation in the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
The question has put Badal on the back foot days after the Akali Dal went on an offensive against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for saying in a television inter- view, “Maybe, some Congress leaders were involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.” The morale of the Congress workers in Punjab was down after Rahul Gandhi’s TV interview, but Amarinder Singh’s move has given them some hope. Amarinder Singh has said that in his book he will “expose” Badal’s role. Amarinder Singh, sources claim, repeated what was contained in the July 1984 White Paper issued by the Union government. The paper recorded nine meetings between Akali leaders and the Centre before Operation Blue Star. The timing of Singh’s offensive has brought him back to the centre stage as the party’s selfstyled chief campaigner. A political observer and author of a book on the Khalistan struggle, Jagtar Singh told The Sunday Guardian, “Amarinder Singh has shown to the party that only he can prevent the Akalis from raise Sikh issues to check anti-incumbency during elections.” Observers say that Amarinder Singh has also overshadowed his party rival and Punjab PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa.