Spat between Partap Singh Bajwa and Amarinder continues

The spat between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Partap Singh Bajwa continued on Thursday, with the MP accusing Singh of "hoodwinking" the people and ensuring that "sacrilege cases of 2015 are not investigated in a fair and impartial manner".

Bajwa also said the CM was more focused on levelling false allegations against him than advancing people's interests in Punjab and taking the Bargari investigation, related to the desecration of religious scriptures, to its logical conclusion.

"Amarinder Singh has been hoodwinking the people of Punjab and misleading them while making every effort to ensure that the sacrilege cases are not investigated in a fair and impartial manner," the Congress MP said in a statement here.

Everybody thinks Amarinder Singh is trying to save the Badals, the Rajya Sabha MP alleged.

Singh had on Wednesday slammed Bajwa for "joining hands" with the opposition in attacking his own party's government on the sensitive sacrilege issue.

Hitting out at Bajwa for being party to the "malicious" propaganda unleashed by the opposition in the wake of CM's reported comments in a newspaper interview on Tuesday, Amarinder said that the MP had "behaved in an imbecile manner".

Responding to Singh's allegations of not reading the interview in detail and merely going by the headline, Bajwa said it was the CM who needed to read what was published.

"As far as the sacrilege is concerned, Badal (Parkash Singh) is not involved. It is some individuals who were involved who tore Guru Granth Sahib," Bajwa said quoting from the interview of the chief minister.

Singh is alleged to be throwing lifelines at the Badals, the MP said, adding that attempts are being made to ensure that the actual culprits are never caught and instead, some innocent people are held responsible.

"Amarinder Singh is the person who despite being the chief minister is not aware of the realities," Bajwa said.