Interview with former Punjab CM, who is up against BJP’s Arun Jaitley, in Amritsar.
By Vishal Dahiya, RSTV
NEW DELHI: Captain Amarinder Singh, the former Chief Minister of Punjab and Congress candidate from Amritsar, is contesting against Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and BJP candidate Arun Jaitley.
In an interview with Vishal Dahiya, broadcast on RSTV, Singh attacks BJP and Akali Dal for poor governance in Punjab and reveals his plans for development of Amritsar.
Excerpts from the edited interview:
There seems to be a lot of focus on local issues (in Punjab). In many of your speeches, you are focusing on what is exactly happening in local areas rather than apprising them of the national achievements of the UPA government.
That is not true. Actually, there are three sorts of reasons on which people are fighting elections in Punjab. First is the Modi factor. There is no Modi factor here.
Number two on the anti-incumbency of central government. There is no anti-incumbency here. In Punjab, there is only one thing – the anti-incumbency of state government. They are fed up with this government. Sooner they see the back of this government, the happier they will be and that is what it is. Look for instance at Jaitley; he is the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha. I think, 72% of the sittings were boycotted by the BJP led by him in Rajya Sabha and in Lok Sabha by the opposition leader there, and together they have cost 700 crores because it costs The Parliament about two and a half lakhs per minute. So 700 crores have been lost thanks to the short-sightedness of Jaitley and the other opposition leader.
This campaign seems to have taken a lot of personal tone, if you look at the personal exchanges between Jaitley and you. There seems to be lot of verbal exchanges. Why not focus more on issues?
There is no verbal exchange. It’s an exchange on…you see Mr. Jaitley has never been in politics. This is my 13th election. He does not know how elections are fought. It has to be on the basis of facts and figures and to push them across with vigor, what you want to do. It is not just putting your point across in a forceful manner.
What about SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, because I have heard his name in your speeches several times on several issues. You do not mince your words when you are mentioning him.
You must have noticed Jaitley does not feature in this election campaign. Nobody cares about Jaitley up here. I do not think 10% can recognize who Jaitley is in this sort of thing. He is not a known figure here. Yes, Majithia is a kingpin of the drug mafia in this area. How many thousands and thousands of children are either dead or are incapacitated by his drugs? And yes, he is the main figure. If anybody is hated today in Punjab, it is Bikram Singh Majithia.
That is a very strong accusation. Now the people of SAD and BJP in his defense are saying that if at all he is guilty or if at all there is evidence against him, then why did not the central government take action against him since the last ten years?
This is already in the courts. It is the question of police cracking down. Do you think I have to crack down on him. It is the Punjab police who cracked down on him. And who is the Punjab’s Home Minister. His brother-in-law is Mr Badal Junior and who is the CM, Badal Senior. They know well that he has been doing this and police has cracked down on him and I have not asked the police. They are not my police to crack down on him and this has now to go to court. Now the ED has taken action on its own and he will be in court.
Do you think that anti-incumbency factor will rub negative against you?
National anti-incumbency, Modi factor, are not issues here. In fact, people are accusing Jaitley and his gang of not allowing bills to pass in the parliament. If the Food Security Act – 125000 crores – if that would have come out, every child in India would have slept with full stomach. Is there anything wrong in it? What about rural health mission, 45000 crores would have come out and every one could have got medical facility for their poor families. So is there anything wrong in it? But these fellows have not let this happen.
What about UPA 2’s performance?
These programs are also in UPA2. It’s a continuation in the current manifesto. The ones that were not able to be passed in UPA 2, we brought them back for the next govt. It’s a part of our manifesto. And who have stopped them. That is the problem. Nobody is asking who has stopped them. Why UPA2 has not been able to pass them. Primarily because of BJP’s boycott, 75% of Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha sittings were boycotted.
If Parliament would have functioned well and these chaps would have done their responsible job as leader of opposition, Yes, I think so many of the bills would have passed and would have been today law. People would have been benefitted with them, not Amarinder Singh or anybody else. It is for common people, the poor people of the country.
What is Captain Amarinder’s agenda for Amritsar?
In 2006, when I was CM, I had a 25-year-plan made for Amritsar called Amritsar 2025. I did it because I thought for this city we need to do something special. It has been lying in the lockers and the government has not bothered to take it out. In that plan, there is also details on border areas. There are parallel wires across the Indo-Pak border. There is too much of Indian land lying between these two wires. If someone wants to farm that land, due to security compulsions, they cannot do it. That is the major problem. The other big problem is jobs. Jobs mean industries, industries mean infrastructure. Infrastructure includes power. We need to bring power to all the villages somehow.
These Akalis do not want to spend money on this. We need to bring in some international projects, maybe something to do with the World Bank or Asian Development Bank for things like sewage, drinking water, for which they normally give aid. Punjab’s population is increasing, but the infrastructure remains the same. How will Amritsar be able to cope with this? A plan is needed now and to be implemented now. (GIN/RSTV)