With former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh threatening to not let Navjot Singh Sidhu win from wherever he contests in the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls, Punjab
Congress chief’s advisor Mohammad Mustafa on Friday challenged the veteran leader to contest against the cricketer-turned-politician from any of the 117 Assembly constituencies in the state.
In a post titled ‘Sachi Baat’ (true words) in his Twitter account, the former Indian Police Service officer Mustafa said rather than looking for sacrificial goats to contest against Sidhu, Amarinder should face the former in any seat out of 117 seats.
“I know you (Amarinder) don’t have it in you. Instead, we would request the Congress leadership to allow Sidhu to fight you on your home turf Patiala and give you a run for your money. And if the result is any different from forfeiture of your deposit, we would quit political space for good,” he said in the post addressed to Amarinder.
Mustafa, whose wife Razia Sultana resigned as cabinet minister expressing solidarity with Sidhu over his resignation as Punjab Congress chief, said having lost the chair of the Chief Minister,
Amarinder seems to have lost mental poise too.
‘Captain Sahib, you couldn’t change your destiny, how can you change that of Sidhu who is an epitome, a mujassama of sacrifices and principled fights, top to toe. Let’s leave it to the people of Punjab to choose their next CM. Make no mistake, it’s already written on the walls and in the hearts of Punjab and Punjabies,” he said.
The former Director-General of Police said he is amazed and intrigued to hear, Amarinder is leaving Congress. He said the former CM needs to answer honestly if he really was in Congress till now. “You (Amarinder) left Congress long back,” Mustafa said, adding the veteran leader wore only a mask of being a Congressman all these years to retain the CM’ chair.
Promising to reveal more against Amarinder in the coming days, Mustafa said the Congress is in the hands of very good people. “To their (Congress high command) credit and gentlemanliness, the party tolerated and suffered you for too long. And take it from me, the parties you are eyeing have no room for political parasites, double-crossers and laid back royals,” Mustafa said referring to speculation that the Congress leader may join the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Mustafa was once considered very close to Amarinder Singh. The CM used to often dine at Mustafa’s place. They fell apart after Dinkar Gupta was appointed as the Punjab Police chief. Mustafa along with another IPS officer Siddharth Chattopadhyaya had challenged Gupta’s appointment in 2019.
The state government had appointed Gupta as the Punjab DGP, suppressing the seniority of other IPS officers, including Mustafa. The former DGP is now a strong supporter of Sidhu.
Earlier, Mustafa had threatened to reveal Amarinder’s ‘secrets’ if he continued his tirade against Sidhu. “I have a 500-page book on Amarinder Singh. If after this he terms Sidhu as anti-national and a friend of Pakistan, I will reveal all I have,” he said speaking to reporters.