Sidhu’s decision to join Congress was unconditional, says Amarinder

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday clarified that Sidhu’s decision to join the Congress was unconditional, with no strings attached, and asserted that decision on having a deputy CM in the state will be taken by the AICC president and vice-president.
Talking to mediapersons during the rejoining of former Congress leader Darbari Lal in Delhi, Amarinder said Sidhu would be the party’s candidate for Amritsar East.The delay in his joining was on account of his professional commitments, which he wanted to conclude before getting into the election gear, said Amarinder.
Quizzed about for the delay in the remaining tickets, Amarinder said the party’s central leadership had five states to look after, which naturally led to some delays in the decision-making process. He ruled out tickets for outsiders except where Congress did not have its own strong candidates.
On Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia’s projection of Arvind Kejriwal as the Punjab chief ministerial candidate, Captain said the Delhi chief minister’s gameplan had been completely exposed and it was clear that he wanted to become the CM of Punjab without even contesting. The people of Punjab will never hand over the reins of the state to a Haryanvi who could not be trusted to protect their interests, said the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief.
Rejecting Akali and AAP criticism of the Congress manifesto for the Punjab Assembly polls, Amarinder said they could not be expected to appreciate the document. The manifesto, which had the stamp of approval of Dr. Manmohan Singh, had been prepared by former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal and former state deputy chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and was a perfect document, he added.
The PPCC president once again declared his avowed intention of punishing all involved in drug trade within four weeks of coming to power. “Lamba pa dayan ge sab nunh,” he promised, making it clear that he would not allow any laxity in the matter.
However, Amarinder termed the incident of shoe throwing on Parkash Singh Badal, and earlier stone-pelting on Sukhbir Badal’s convoy, as regrettable, but added that it was the pent-up anger of the people. He urged the people to use the ballot to avenge themselves against Badals.
To another question, Amarinder called for an inquiry into the BSF jawan’s video claiming inadequate food provisions for the personnel of the force, saying on the face of it the situation projected in the video seemed real and the BSF should be held responsible for it.