The registration of a disproportionate assets (DA) case by Punjab Vigilance Bureau against Amarinder Singh is proving to be a boon for the former chief minister.
26 MLAs rally for former chief minister during questioning by vigilance bureau
CHANDIGARH: The registration of a disproportionate assets (DA) case by Punjab Vigilance Bureau against Amarinder Singh is proving to be a boon for the former chief minister.
Amarinder’s political image had taken a beating in the last few months following various allegations and no senior Congress leader wanted to identify with him. But on Sunday, when he was questioned by the vigilance bureau, 26 of the 43 Congress MLAs in the state stood by him.
They all assembled at Amarinder’s Moti Bagh palace defying a Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) diktat to party workers against staging a show of strength during the interrogation.
Hundreds of other Congressmen also expressed solidarity with the former chief minister before a vigilance bureau team questioned him in connection with the case of allegedly amassing assets beyond his known sources of income.
A big convoy of cars and other vehicles of Congress workers followed Amarinder as he headed for the place of interrogation. Besides the 26 Congress MLAs, 18 former MLAs and over two dozen party candidates in the last assembly election were present to cheer him up.
Leaders of different frontal organisations of the state Congress also toed Amarinder, giving a clear signal to PCC president Rajinder Kaur Bhattal that their hearts went for the erstwhile scion of the Patiala royal family.
Amarinder said the case had been registered at the behest of Bhattal and chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to scuttle his chances of becoming PCC president. He said since the party high command in Delhi had made up its mind to replace Bhattal, she had joined hands with the chief minister to corner him.
Amarinder also contested the validity of the case saying it was a replication of an earlier case regarding the Ludhiana City Centre scam registered against him. He told reporters on Monday the vigilance bureau had told him to furnish details of his spending abroad within two months. He said by asking him about expenses allegedly incurred on his women friends, the bureau was trying to indulge in character assassination.
Amarinder’s son Raninder, who has also been named in the case, is abroad and has already sought permission from a court to appear before the bureau by July 15.
b_ajay@dnaindia.net
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