New Delhi, October 17
Enthused by the Congress’ victory on two Assembly seats in the byelections, the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, today met the Defence Minister and in charge of the Congress for Punjab, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, as part of an exercise to improve his rapport with the party high command.

The meeting is being seen as part of the Chief Minister’s group’s efforts to impress upon the Congress President Sonia Gandhi that the Punjab Chief Minister remains popular in the state and the “best choice to lead the party in the state.”

The Chief Minister is expected to meet Mrs Gandhi tomorrow to apprise her of the changing political scenario in the state.

The meeting is also being seen in the context of the Chief Minister’s falling fortunes in the party circles after the defeat of the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections in the state and his open defiance by enacting an Act nullifying all agreements of the state with the neighbouring states over the distribution of river waters.

Capt Amarinder Singh is also scheduled to meet the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, tomorrow to discuss the annual plan of the state.

Later addressing a press conference here at Kapurthala House, the Chief Minister said,” The defeat of the Akali Dal and the BJP in the Kapurthala and Garhshankar Assembly seats is a referendum for the policies of the Congress and its corruption charges against Badal and his family besides being a verdict against the corrupt rule of the previous government.”

The state Chief Minister said he would soon meet President of the Congress Sonia Gandhi and would introduce the newly elected MLAs to her.

Referring to the recent reports published in a English daily, he said, “I will file a criminal defamation case against the Resident Editor of the Hindustan Times, Kanwar Sandhu, and his team, including a correspondent, Manish Tiwari, for maligning my reputation.”

The report has alleged that Capt Amarinder Singh, his son, Mr Raninder Singh, and his then principal secretary, Mr Sanjit Sinha, were involved in conceiving and finalising an aborted Internet project involving illegal transaction of Rs 46 lakh to a Dutch firm.

Capt Amarinder Singh asserted, “No such company ever existed and the report has been planted by my political rivals. “He, however, did not say whether they included his opponents in the party or his political rivals.

The Chief Minister said the state government did receive a proposal from Mr Freeke but dropped it after finding it unviable.

“Where is the question of money changing hands when no company in the name of Punjab Intranet ever came into being,” he said, adding that he suspected his political rivals were behind the report. He pointed out that the publication of the report coincided with the results of the October 13 Punjab byelections.