Amarinder questions Badal, Jaitley on contentious issues

Amarinder questions BadalAMRITSAR: Senior Congress leader and party candidate from Amritsar, Amarinder Singh asked Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to clarify his stand on three contentious issues in BJP election manifesto released today.

Reacting to BJP manifesto Singh said, people of Punjab would like to know from Badal his stand on Uniform Civil Code, abrogation of the Article 370 and construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya as announced by the saffron party in its manifesto released in New Delhi today.

He asked Arun Jaitley, party’s nominee from Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, to specify whether the senior BJP leader will advocate these issues listed in his party’s manifesto in Punjab too.

The Congress leader said he was asking these questions specifically to Badal, as the Chief Minister has always advocated a separate personal law for the Sikhs, was strongly opposed to any move to abrogate Article 370 as he advocates greater autonomy for the states and was also not in favor of constructing a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Singh hit out at the BJP saying the party has betrayed its real communal and sectarian instincts in the manifesto itself and the “fake facade” of development it was trying to project over communalism and Hindutva had already started wearing off. -PTI