Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday reiterated his over decade-old offer to exchange his properties with those of the Badals, saying if the size of the Akali first family’s empire is anything to go by, it is the Badals who are the real Maharajas of the day.Pointing out that he had a legacy extending 350 years, Captain Amarinder said that, in contrast, the crores worth of assets and properties accumulated by the Badals during the past 10 years were built with public money, which they had procured by plundering and looting the state.“I had offered to swap my properties with yours several years ago, and I am more than willing to do it now,” said Captain Amarinder, observing that the assets of the Badals had expanded to unimaginable proportions in the past 10 years.Back in 2001, Captain Amarinder had listed the Badals’ properties worth crores of rupees to say he was ready to swap his own properties with those of the Akali father-son duo and their family. Reacting to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s latest personal attack on his 'royal roots', Captain Amarinder said his small inherited legacy was no match for the Badals’ empire, which they had amassed and grown to become multi-billionaires during the last 10 years of their rule in Punjab.“From their personal residential properties to their multi-crore businesses in hospitality, transport, media, etc, the Badals’s assets defy even my royal imagination,” said Captain Amarinder, daring the chief minister to accept his challenge to swap their properties.
The last 10 years, he pointed out, had witnessed unprecedented growth in the Badals’ business empire, which consisted of the Orbit Resorts, their multiple transport companies, the media companies etc owned by them. The latest addition of the lavish Oberoi Sukhvilas Resort, in which Sukhbir Badal and his wife are the majority stakeholders, had led to the expansion of their assets multifold, said Captain Amarinder, asking the Badals to come clean on their properties and businesses, which had been built using plundered public money.This growth, said Captain Amarinder, had come at the cost of the development and progress of Punjab and its people, who had been plunged into ruin and despair by Badal and his anti-people policies, including the Punjabi Suba movement, and the mafias run by his government.Captain Amarinder dismissed as ridiculous Parkash Singh Badal’s allegation that he had no connect with the people at the grassroots level, saying had that been the case he would not have been elected by the people to the state assembly and the national Parliament as many as seven times.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Congress has said that with palatial palaces and businesses worth crores of rupees of their own, and a grand Sukhvilas resort to boast of, the Badals had absolutely no right to question Captain Amarinder’s royal heritage, which in any case was inherited, unlike the Badals’ assets secured through large-scale plundering and looting of the state, the Punjab Congress said here on Thursday.In a sharp reaction to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s continued personal and baseless attacks on Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) said in a statement here that the Akali leader’s senseless statements reflected his senility and his frustration at his party’s impending defeat in the upcoming Assembly polls.PPCC leaders Laal Singh, Rana Gurmeet Singh and Rana Gurjit Singh said Captain Amarinder’s popularity and connect with the people of Punjab could be seen in all his campaigns, rallies and interactions, where people could be seen turning out in thousands to get a glimpse of their beloved leader. In contrast, the Badals’ rallies were marked by the shameful absence of crowds, even in their own hometowns, said the PPCC leaders, pointing out that the writing was there on the wall for all to see.They accused the chief minister of trying to mislead the people of Punjab with his fraudulent claims on the development of the state under his rule. In fact, said the PPCC leaders, the Badals had brought to naught, during 10 years of their misrule, the entire development that Captain Amarinder had raised to exceptional levels during his 5-year rule. The state had been plunged into de-growth and regressive development by the Akali government’s policies and actions, they added.