People in Glass Houses
The Congress Party has decided to field Ashok Chavan, the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, who is tainted in the Adarsh Scam, as its candidate from Nanded. The Commission of Inquiry appointed to probe the Adarsh scam had indicted Ashok Chavan. The CBI wanted a prosecution to be filed against him. The Governor refused sanction to prosecute Ashok Chavan. This was a politically motivated decision to save the declining fortunes of the Congress Party in Maharashtra. The Party had already fielded Pavan Bansal, who resigned from the Government after the Railway Board scam, from Chandigarh. The CBI investigation into the whole case raises many questions. The family and staff members of the former Railway Minister were selling Railway Board jobs and yet it is claimed the CBI was unaware of the Minister’s link. If the CBI had applied even a fraction of the standards which they used against BJP leaders of Gujarat and Rajasthan the case against Bansal was an open and shut case. The campaign in Himachal Pradesh is being led by a man under CBI investigation. The Chief Minister Vir Bhadra Singh is reported to have been questioned by the CBI in a case where there appears to be conclusive evidence against him. The Party has aligned with a convicted Lalu Prasad in Bihar. Coming back to the emphasis on probity, the candidate Congress has fielded against me in Amritsar is a charge-sheeted politician. The charge sheet against Captain Sahab is pending in Ludhiana and the prosecution is on.
The Captain’s Logic
I speak regularly on political issues. I have been writing on a regular basis in newspapers and on the Face Book. I give regular interviews to the media. My opposition to terrorism is well known. Terrorism and insurgency need to be fought and eliminated. I have been more aggressive against terror than most Indian politicians. My articles and speeches are all available on my website. If Captain Amarinder Singh chooses to read them he won’t have asked me ill-informed questions on my stand on honouring terrorism or terrorists. Obviously, I am opposed to it.
Notwithstanding my opposition to terrorism and insurgency, I have always believed that Operation Blue Star was an ill-conceived and an ill-planned operation. Those who planned Operation Blue Star did not realize the adverse consequences of the Operation. I have in my earlier comments referred to it as a ‘Blunder’. There were other ways of achieving the goal. Captain Amarinder Singh is a candidate of a party which planned and executed the Blue Star operation. The reluctant Captain obeyed the dictats of his Party President to contest the elections from Amritsar notwithstanding the fact that his party President represents the legacy of those culpable for Operation Blue Star. The Captain should have refused. Why is the Captain associated with a party responsible for Blue Star? What compelled him to return to that party and accept the dictates of those who have inherited the legacy of the guilt?
Has Congress disappeared from the mind space?
In the past two months I have undertaken Twitter chats, Face Book chats and a Google Hangout. There are a lot of questions on BJP, the economy, corruption, Narendra Modi and the need for a stable government. There are also questions on the Aam Aadmi Party and itsleaders. Curiously, in all these chats and the Hangout not a single question till date has been asked about the Congress Party. I wonder why. Is the Congress party disappearing from the mind space?