New Delhi, January 28
Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said today that the Bathinda Refinery was Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s “commitment’’ to the people of Punjab and his government was pursuing the case with the Centre.

The Chief Minister, who was in the capital to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi today, said the refinery was crucial for Punjab. He said that Rs 250 crore had already been spent on creation of infrastructure for the project. The refinery, he said, would enable the thermal plants in Punjab to run on gas.

Besides discussing the party’s preparations for the impending elections in the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, the Chief Minister is believed to have apprised Mrs Gandhi about the recent developments in the state including the controversy surrounding an IAS officer. The the high command had asked the Chief Minister to take suitable action in the matter.

The Chief Minister said here that he had not acted under any pressure on the controversy relating to the IAS officer. “The Chief Secretary was upset over the issue and the IAS Officers Association also met me,’’ he said.

Taking exception to the attack on his government by his political adversaries on the issue, the Chief Minister said four senior IPS officers in Haryana were facing charges about their conduct and allegations had also been levelled against a relative of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. “You can’t have double standards,’’ he said.

Sources said one reason for the sudden summoning of Capt Amarinder Singh to New Delhi was the party high command's keenness to know about the “property details’’ of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal collected by the Capt Amarinder Singh government. They said that the party high command wanted to assess the potency of the issue of alleged corruption by the BJP government before finally deciding on a tie-up with HVC leader Sukh Ram.

However, the Chief Minister said he had not submitted to the party high command any details of the property at Jalandhar of Mr Dhumal and the issue was being raised “by my own effort.’’

The Chief Minister said during electioneering in Himachal Pradesh, he would declare his property in the state. “If Mr Dhumal can find out more property, he can take it as a gift,’’ The central Congress leadership has identified about 30 constituencies where leaders from Punjab will be actively involved in campaigning.

The sources said some Congress leaders from Punjab, who met central leaders in the recent past, had called for accelerated pace of development in the state and the issue was touched at today’s meeting with Mrs Gandhi.

On the refinery issue, the Chief Minister pointed out that he had written a letter to the Prime Minister. “I talked to the Prime Minister about the refinery during the National Development Council meeting,’’ he said