Amarinder questions Kejriwal's moral authority to speak on corruption

Congress' Punjab unit chief Amarinder Singh on Monday questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's moral authority to speak against corruption after himself having shielding his own Principal Secretary, who is facing serious corruption charges.

"Kejriwal is now claiming that he will put the Badals (Parkash Singh and his son Sukhbir) behind bars, I have done it already in 2002," he told reporters here.

Singh said Kejriwal was trying to address the anti-Badal sentiment without spelling out how he will punish the Badals and put them behind bars.

"I know how to do it as I have done and I will do it again," he said, while adding, there is a proper legal system to bring the corrupt like Badals to the book.

"But why is Kejriwal not applying the same yardstick in Delhi also?" he asked, while pointing out how he continues to defending his Principal Secretary Rajinder Kumar facing corruption charges.

Defending his opposition to a Central Bureau of Investigations probe into the drug scandal, Singh said his only concern was that it would have been delayed as the central agency usually takes about eight to 10 years to complete the investigations.

He said there were some central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax department, Narcotics Control Bureau and the Revenue Intelligence involved in the investigations.

"After the BJP-led NDA government took over and Arun Jaitley became the Union Finance Minister, the probe has been put into suspended animation."

The former chief minister said all the central agencies come under Jaitley and he was certainly trying to help someone involved in the scandal.

Punjab's ruling Badal family and the Shiromani Akali Dal has been in power in an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2007.

--IANS

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