Ahmedabad, December 20
The controversy over the alleged escapades of some Punjab ministers is becoming an issue in political circles in Ahmedabad, with some vernacular dailies here publishing an “account” of the stay of the ministers.
A section of the media here has narrated how a hotel employee had allegedly helped the ministers, who have not been named, in their reported pursuits after she was given certain promises.
A report in a widely-circulated newspaper here says that when the woman went to meet the ministers in Punjab they refused to recognise her. She, however, met some other leaders, the report maintains.
Police sources here said Central intelligence agencies were also sniffing around for information about the controversy. Police officials have visited the hotel where the ministers stayed to make inquiries. Local businessmen, who had been with the ministers during their stay here, were also being questioned, it is learnt.
However, impartial observers here see political motives in the controversy. They say that the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, was hard-hitting against religious extremism during his speeches in Gujarat and many of his words may not have gone down well with certain elements in the state.
The controversy, they point out, could have been “stage-managed” to embarass the Congress government in Punjab.
Insisting that a “futile” controversy is being raised, the hotel officials wondered why the woman, believed to have been lured, had not been identified. “Why does she not surface,” a senior hotel official said while refusing to be quoted.
