Congress yet to properly apologise for Operation Bluestar: Hardeep Puri

Chandigarh: Union Minister for Urban Housing, Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said that the Congress was yet to apologise properly for Operation Bluestar at the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, the Golden Temple, even after 40 years of operation.

Addressing the media here on the occasion of the release of the BJP's "Chandigarh Manifesto", the Union Minister said the Congress was responsible for the massacre of Sikhs which took place after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984.

Hardeep Puri said the Congress had been describing it as anti-Sikh riots whereas it was a massacre and "not a riot because in a riot, two sides are involved. In the massacre, only one community, i.e. Sikhs were targeted".

The Union Minister also ridiculed the Congress' promise of putting Rs 1 lakh in the bank accounts of a woman member of every family.

"This will be a drain of around Rs 32 lakh crore and is practically impossible to implement. It was clear that the Congress was trying to push a false narrative. AAP's scheme of supplying 300 units of free electricity was also part of the same 'revdi' culture about which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had frequently spoken.

"PM Modi believes that good governance is good politics," added Hardeep Puri.

The Union Minister also targetted Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal over the corruption charges.

Under PM Modi-led government, there has been a manifold increase in capital expenditure which in turn has led to a spurt in the economic growth rate of the country, he said, adding: "The Indian economy now occupies the fifth place in the world and will soon become the third largest economy in the world."

Hardeep Puri also said Chandigarh was among the top cities of not only India but also of the world and it must be represented in the Parliament by a person of the calibre of Sanjay Tandon, who was familiar with the city's ethos and its problems.

Referring to a suggestion that India should open trade with Pakistan, Hardeep Puri said Pakistan had been using terrorism against India as an instrument of state policy.

"India had now sent a clear message to Pakistan that it would not accept terrorism and that it would kill terrorists in their homes," he added.

Punjab will go to the polls for its 13 Parliamentary seats along with the lone Chandigarh seat on June 1.