Accusing former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh of misleading people, Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal today said Amarinder is a “frustrated” politician. The CM said Amarinder Singh has no position in the state.

“He’s neither an MLA nor holds any party position in the Congress. He has been accusing us of political vendetta, but not even one case can be attributed to us,” Badal said addressing mediapersons.

The chief minister took a dig at the internal strife within the state Congress. “What can he say? He does not even attend his party functions,” Badal said. Earlier during the day, Amarinder, along with party MLAs, met the Punjab Governor seeking protection for Congressmen and to direct to the government to put an end to “lawlessness and political vendetta against opponents”.

He said, “Enough is enough...the Congress will not tolerate political victimisation of partymen and workers”.

Amarinder had gone to the Raj Bhawan to submit a memorandum to the Governor after five of his party MLAs were allegedly detained inside a police station in Bathinda a few days ago.

Reacting to Amarinder’s allegation, Badal said, “No MLA was detained by the police. There are clear directions to police officers to honour MLAs.”

Helpline for water grievances

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said the government will start a toll-free helpline from November 15 to address grievances of water supply. He said the rural population in the state would be provided safe drinking water and sanitation by 2012. “Of the 14,605 villages, 8,418 had been fully covered, and the remaining will be covered by March 2012,” he said. It has also been decided that half of the user charges for laying sewage system in villages will be take care of through the MPLAD fund or from panchayat funds, he added.