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Friday, 19 August 2011

Caught in a bind, Capt turns guns on Akalis


CHANDIGARH: Caught in a bind over his party-led UPA government's mishandling of Anna issue and mindful of its effect on the coming assembly elections, PPCC chief Amarinder Singh has decided to go on the offensive in his party's defence by turning the guns on Akalis.
Anna will feel ashamed of Akali's support,'' he said, dismissing Akali's protest dharnas against corruption, across the state on Friday.
However, when asked whether UPA's mishandling of the episode would have an adverse effect on party's prospects in the coming assembly elections, he first fumbled for words and then decided to go into a detailed explanation of the phenomenon.
"Anna is a symbol of fight against corruption in the country and he is getting mass support because people are fed up of corruption. But, the question here is whether he has a right to put up his own Jan Lokpal Bill or is it the prerogative of the Parliament to make bills,'' he explained.
Amarinder denied that his party would suffer from any adverse effect from the episode, since it is a corrupt SAD-BJP government in the state, which is trying to support Anna's movement. They talk about 2-Gs and 3-Gs, whereas they have themselves indulged in corruption of 4G and 5G levels,'' he said, mocking the SAD protests.
Admitting that he was yet to read the Right to Services Act, introduced by the SAD-BJP government, Amarinder tried to play down the issue saying that right to services was always there in the state in the form of government services or the Suvidha centres which were later introduced.
"The only addition is that this Act has provisions for penalizing officers. But then, I can say for sure, that no officer would ever get penalized, as they would come out with some claim or reason to explain delay in providing service.''
Notably, SAD president, Sukhbir Badal has been claiming that the bill would be a panacea for corruption.
Asked whether he planned to do away with the bill if he became the CM, Amarinder said, I haven't read the Act, but if it does not suit Punjab, we would repeal it. In case it suits, we can continue with it.''

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