JALLANDHAR, January 24: Warning against the divisive politics of the Akalis, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh today appealed to the people of Punjab to vote for Congress to vote for change and vote for peace and vote for progress. He said, the Akalis had a sectarian and divisive agenda and they only believed in dividing people.
Addressing a largely attended public rally in support of the party candidate from Jallandhar North Avatar Henry, Capt Amarinder recalled, immediately after coming to power in 2007 how the Akalis would brandish naked swords against the people with whom they disagreed. He said, such things hamper development and the results were before everybody with industry closing down and unemployment rising.
Referring to the unemployment problem, he said, government jobs are no answer to unemployment problem. “For that we need massive investment and industry which will generate jobs and for that we need peace and for peace we need Congress government and not a divisive and disruptive Akali-BJP government”, he said, while urging people to draw their own comparisons. “You have seen our five year rule and you have seen their five years as well”, he said, while adding, it should not be difficult for them to make the right judgment.
The former Chief Minister asked the people that if they wanted to get rid of the goonda-raj of the Akalis they must vote for the Congress. He pointed out, the virtual extortion rackets run by the Akalis in different cities across Punjab. “Every businessman and every industrialist in the cities is scared of these goons and he has no option but to pay”, he said, while adding, the police had been made answerable to the local MLAs.
Reiterating his charges against the Badals that they had only resorted to the loot and vendetta, he said, while they themselves were getting richer and richer they had made Punjab so poor that it owes Rs 1.72 lakh crores of debt which will take a long time to be repaid.
Asking the Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal and his Deputy Chief Minister son Sukhbir Badal to show what development they had done, he said, they were showing the bullet trains which run in Japan and the skyscrapers which are actually in Manhattan.
He said, what Punjab has seen during all these years is the total decline. He said, the government education system has virtually collapsed and the medical care is negligible. He revealed that 95 per cent students who get admissions in universities for higher studies come from private schools only while only five per cent come from the government schools.
Speaking on the occasion party incharge for Punjab Thakur Gulchain Singh Charak said, time had come for the people of Punjab to decide. He said, Congress President Ms Sonia Gandhi had given full support to PCC President in his fight against the Akalis and she was sure that Congress was coming back to power in Punjab.
Earlier Avatar Henry expressed his gratitude to the party leadership for reposing faith in him for sixth term.
