Capt Amarinder rakes up tie-up with Shiv Sena to counter Harish Rawat’s ‘secular’ retort

After Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Rawat questioned his secular credentials, Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday hit back at the Congress for its “sheer political opportunism” in joining forces with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and induction of Navjot Singh Sidhu and others from the BJP and RSS

Hours after Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Rawat questioned his secular credentials, former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday hit back at the Congress for its “sheer political opportunism” in joining forces with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and induction of Navjot Singh Sidhu and others from the BJP and RSS.

Capt Amarinder responded to CoOngress’s Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Rawat, who had questioned his secular credentials after the former talked about aligning with the BJP, on Twitter.

On Tuesday, the ex-CM said that he would float a new outfit soon and hoped to tie up with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the upcoming Punjab polls. The announcement drew sharp reactions from the Congress, including Rawat who said that if Capt wants to eat crow, he can.

“Stop talking about secularism @harishrawatcmuk ji. Don’t forget @INCIndia took in @sherryontopp after he was with @BJP4India for 14 years. And where did Nana Patole and Revnath Reddy come from if not RSS? And Pargat Singh was with @Akali_Dal_ for 4 years!” he was quoted as saying by his media adviser Raveen Thukral. In his no-holds-barred attack, Amarinder also questioned the Congress’ tie-up with Shiv Sena, asking Rawat if it was ok to join forces with so-called communal parties as long as it suited the party’s purpose and what was it if not sheer political opportunism.

Amarinder further said that Congress had damaged its own interests by giving the state unit into the hands of an “unstable person like Sidhu” who was only loyal to himself.