CHANDIGARH: Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh lashed out at Congress state in charge Harish Chaudhary over his accusations of being hand in glove with PM Narendra Modi and the BJP when he was leading the state.
Amarinder said that although he owed no explanation to an out of job legislator who was sacked as a minister in Rajasthan for being named as an accused in a Barmer murder case which was handed over to the CBI, he still wanted to set the record straight.
"Had I had any understanding with the PM or the BJP when I was the Chief Minister, I would not have supported the farm agitation and demanded repealing of the agriculture laws and passed law against them in the Vidhan Sabha," he said.
As the Chief Minister and Home Minister, Amarinder said, he was supposed to meet the PM and the Union Home Minister and so were his ministers. "Even your new CM has met the PM and the HM and from your senseless logic then he should also be having an understanding with the BJP and waiting to be sacked," he taunted Chaudhary.
It was for the first time that a party in-charge made the state as his permanent abode, he said. "I have worked with 14 party in charges like Pranab Mukherjee, Mohsina Kidwai, Janaradhan Dwivedi, and they would rarely interfere, leave aside visiting or settling down."
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, Amarinder said. "Chaudhary is enjoying chief ministerial power and privileges in Punjab, turning the CM into a rubber stamp," he added.