Dr. Avnish Jolly , Ludhiana , May 8: Former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today appealed to the people of Punjab to ensure that the Congress candidates won from all the 13 seats in Punjab so that he could expedite the exit of the Badal government. Addressing largely attended public rallies in three rural assembly segments of Jagaraon, Latala (Dakha) and Hambran (in Gill), Amarinder promised to avenge each and every persecution of the Congress workers.The former Chief Minister who commands substantial influence among the Jat peasantry seemed to swing the balance in favour of the Congress candidate Manish Tewari after addressing largely attended rallies in the three rural assembly segments. Given the presence and participation of people in the rallies, the message seemed to be too clear that people gave him their ear attentively.
His speech remained full of caustic remarks on the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, whom he described as a “kitten”. However, Capt Amarinder sought to make a distinction between the senior and the junior Badal. He said, the senior Badal was, at least decent, respectable and well behaved. “However”, he hastened to add, “but he (the senior Badal) remains to be a liar to the core and never stands by his commitment”.
Compared to him, the former Chief Minister added, Sukhbir Badal was very arrogant and autocratic and his behaviour towards the senior leaders of the party was very arrogant and they felt quite alienated and humiliated. He said, Sukhbir was too proud to survive for long as “pride always hath a fall”.
Referring to the atrocities and excesses on Congress workers, Capt Amarinder pointed out, 42 Congress workers had been murdered while 2200 false FIRs involving 7000 Congress workers were registered by the Badals. “Let me return and I will avenge each and every act of injustice done with my workers”, he promised, while adding, “I will not let them go scot-free and the law will take its own course”.
Bdals, he said, were not just vindictive, they were corrupt to the core. “Inna nay loka nu kutiya he nahi, lutiya be (they have not only persecuted people, they have also looted them). He pointed out, they had grabbed everything, be it the sand mining, the transport business, liquor business or the hotel business. “They are now trying to set up hotels in each city”, he pointed out, while wondering as where from did they get this money.
Appealing people to vote for the Congress candidate from Ludhiana parliamentary constituency Manish Tewari, he pointed out, it is the vote for Dr Manmohan Singh. He argued, Dr Singh is not just a Punjabi Prime Minister, he is an able Prime Minister. He said, if India was saved from the economic recession, it was because of the economic genius of Dr Singh.
Taking a dig at the BJP’s and Akalis’ Prime Ministerial candidate LK Advani, claimed to be a “strong leader”, Amarinder pointed out, it was the same “strong leader” who as the Home Minister of the country handed over terrorists to Taliban as if they were state guests. “Do you think they have any right to claim him to be a strong leader?”, he asked, while adding, compared to that Dr Singh ensured that Indo-US Nuclear deal was materialized which made India more stronger.
Prominent among those who addressed the rallies included, Manish Tewari, Jassi Khangura, Bhupinder Singh Sidhu, Darshan Singh Brar, Gurdeep Singh Bhaini, Milkiat Singh Dakha, Jagpal Singh Khangura and others.