Former chief minister and Congress candidate from Amritsar, Capt Amarinder Singh, has questioned the silence of his BJP rival Arun Jaitley on some crucial issues concerning Punjab, saying he was trying to evade these deliberately.
In an open letter to Jaitley, Amarinder said, "For the last two weeks, we have been reading your monotonous monologues that smack of self-righteous egoistic arrogance, touching almost everything under the sun but Punjab".
He asked Jaitely to spell out his stand on the crucial Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal that concerned each and every Punjabi. "You just can't evade the issue by saying it is sub-judice as people of Punjab would like to know your and your party's opinion about it", he said, while adding that he must also clear his party's stand on inter-linking of rivers in Punjab.
"We have had enough on developing Amritsar as a tourist and trade centre, generating employment and so on," he said, while again pointing out that Navjot Singh Sidhu knew it better but was not allowed to do anything.
On the issue of employment, Amarinder told Jaitley, "You probably don't know that 18,700 industrial units had been shut down in Punjab during the last 7 years while your party was sharing power with Akalis and will you please let us know whether you have some magic wand to waive it around and create investments and jobs".
{{/usCountry}}On the issue of employment, Amarinder told Jaitley, "You probably don't know that 18,700 industrial units had been shut down in Punjab during the last 7 years while your party was sharing power with Akalis and will you please let us know whether you have some magic wand to waive it around and create investments and jobs".
{{/usCountry}}The former chief minister said that Punjab's debt had already crossed `1-lakh crore and it was continuously multiplying. "Your (SAD-BJP) government is taking loans to pay interest on this debt and now RBI has refused any further overdraft to the state resulting in delayed salaries and pensions by over three months".
He further said, "I hope you answer these questions rather than going on and on with the self-centred monologues that have become so characteristic of your style."
Amarinder pointed out that he had been asking so many questions from Jaitley for a long time, which the "gentleman (Jaitley) has chosen not to answer".
"Either you (Jaitley) are ignorant and have no answers or you are arrogant and do not wish to answer", he added.