SANGRUR, December 22: Buoyed by the massive turnover at the party rally here today, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh sounded the election bugle. He said, he was happy to launch the campaign for the next elections from Sangrur today.
Addressing a mammoth rally organised by former Sangrur MLA Arvind Khanna, in Anaj Mandi (Grain Market), Capt Amarinder Singh asserted, the overwhelming response of the people at today’s rally was indicative of the fact that people were impatient to throw this government out. “This government deserves to be thrown out as it has not done anything for anyone”, the PCC President said, while adding, every section of the society is unhappy and disillusioned with this government.
The PCC President expressed surprise as how this government was running. “There is practically no government. The father and son are staying abroad and the ministers are seen nowhere while it is eight months since the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was last heard”, he said.
The former Chief Minister asked people to compare the performance of his government with that of the Akalis. “You saw it for yourself as how we procured wheat and paddy and ensured payment within two days and now you have to wait for days together for the payments”, he pointed out, while adding, even they have not been able to provide the minimum six hour power supply to the tube-wells. He pointed out, compared to that during the Congress regime there was regular uninterrupted eight hour power supply to the agriculture sector.
Lashing out at the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Deputy Chief Minister son Sukhbir Badal, Capt Amarinder Singh said, they betrayed the trust reposed in him by the people of Punjab. “You elected them to power but they let you down as they virtually did nothing except for registering false cases against everybody”, he said.
Having a dig at the Deputy Chief Minister, he said, recently he told senior police officers during a meeting that he will “no more” tolerate any drug trafficking, land grabbing and false cases. “That means he has admitted to having done all these things during all these years”, Capt Amarinder Singh remarked, while adding, they are still registering false cases against our people. He disclosed that only a few days ago a false case was registered against Mohali MLA Balbir Sidhu recently despite the fact that he was not present at the time of the incident.
Capt Amarinder Singh said, the Akalis have fallen short of jathedars and now they are trying their luck with police officers and bureaucrats. “They are trying to field one DGP here and another there”, he said, while adding, “remember these are the same people who unleashed a reign of terror on you”. But don’t worry none of them is going to win, he told a cheering crowd.
The PCC President said, the Badals had taken away everything from everyone. They have taken over transport business, the sand mining, the cable business and even the liquor business. So much so they even grabbed a dhaba in Barnala which was doing a reasonably good business, he disclosed.
Capt Amarinder Singh regretted that this government had taken the government employees for a ride. All the employees unions are on the roads to press for their demands as the government does not care to listen to them. “During my regime whenever they had any problem I would call them to my office and sort these out, but the Akalis have shut their doors at everyone”, he pointed out.
Addressing the meeting the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab assembly Ms Rajinder Kaur Battal lashed out at the Akalis for being vindictive and indulging in vendetta politics. She said, the Congress government will account for each and every vendetta case lodged against our workers.
Speaking on the occasion former minister Lal Singh said, there was a civil war going on within the Badal family and one brother was after the blood of another.
Expressing his gratitude to the party leadership and workers, Arvind Khanna thanked them for making the rally successful. He also listed various works of social upliftment being done by his Umeed Foundation in the area.
Sangrur MP Vijay Inder Singla, Kewal Dhillon, SS Sibia, Razia Sultana, Bibi Harchand Kaur and Surjit Singh Dhiman also addressed the meeting.
Prominent among those present on the occasion included Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, Harmohinder Singh Pardhan, Mai Roop Kaur, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Ramesh Singla, Gurjeet Singh Laly Jawandha, Sukhi Randhawa, Rajinder Deepa, Aman Arora, Govind Khatra, Vikram Chaudhary, Major Amardeep, Rocky Gill, Harbhajan Saini and others.