Capt to Sukhbir: Is Gill your proxy in govt?

Describing the appointment of outgoing Director General of Police PS Gill as advisor,Home as surprising and unprecedented,Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday said this was for the first time in history that a home minister had appointed a proxy for himself and outsourced his job.

He asked Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal to clear his stand. Observing that it was unethical to rehabilitate Gill in this way,the PCC president pointed out that by superimposing Gill on the home department,apparently with unbridled powers,the Akali-BJP government,besides circumventing constitutional and legal mechanism,had surrendered its authority to an unelected executive without having the mandate of the people.

Amarinder said,it only reminds of the dark days of terrorism when Punjab was under President’s Rule and there were no elected representatives and hence advisors were appointed as a substitute. “Appointment of advisors during the President’s Rule is understandable,but at a time when you have elected government in power it is not so difficult to comprehend the intentions of that government,which surrenders its power and space to an unelected person,” he said.

He also asked Gill to spell out whether he was still thinking of contesting the assembly elections.