Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
CHANDIGARH, November 25: Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh today questioned the timing and the motives of the government of India in seeking selective information from the Swiss authorities about the purported account details of his wife and Patiala MLA Ms Preneet Kaur and son Raninder Singh.
In a statement issued here today, Capt Amarinder said, despite his wife and son having already furnished all the details and answers, to all questions raised by the Income Tax department of the government of India, from time to time, the government of India with an obvious questionable motive wanted to highlight this particular case.
“The matter of ‘foreign bank accounts’ is pending before Income Tax Authorities since 2011 where it has been clearly stated that neither my wife, nor my son or me have any foreign bank account”, he clarified, while pointing out, that the Swiss authorities in their notification have nowhere stated that Praneet Kaur and Raninder Singh have Swiss bank account(s). This notification is a matter of procedure to be followed in respect of individuals whose names are sent by Indian government enquiring about accounts, he added.
Capt Amarinder said, it was clearly aimed by the BJP government at the centre to help its beleaguered partner in Punjab, which has been cornered in the recent past for multiple failures. “This is a desperate attempt of the Govt/BJP to malign my image before 2017 Punjab polls without any iota of truth in the allegations”, he said.
The former Punjab Chief Minister pointed out, that it was Narendra Modi who during the parliamentary election campaign had raised this issue and named him, in April 2014 at Barmer in Rajasthan, while addressing an election rally. He said, at that time also, he (Mr Modi) raised this baseless issue as the BJP had been cornered in Amritsar with the party finding that its candidate Arun Jaitely, currently his finance minister, was trailing and was certain to lose, which he eventually did by a margin of over one lakh votes.
He added that, Arun Jaitley still can’t come to terms with his defeat in Amritsar and is pursuing this matter with a vindictive mindset. “How come this issue of foreign accounts gains relevance or is brought into limelight before State Elections-first time in 2011 (before 2012 polls) now 2015 before 2017?” he asked.
Similarly, Capt Amarinder added, now when the Congress is proposing a reshuffle in the party in Punjab and the Akali-BJP feel threatened by him, they have resorted to their old habit and dirty tricks of using the income tax department and other central agencies against their political opponents.
“No wonder all our opponents in Punjab, including the Akali Dal, the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party are celebrating the selective leak, as if they have found us guilty of some grave offence”, he remarked, while adding that he had reiterated time and again that the family did not hold any foreign account and relevant documents in form of evidence have been submitted before the Income Tax Authorities.
