The former army officer and Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday expressed "total disgust" over what he called Narendra Modi’s "shameful attempts to take political mileage from the martyrdom of soldiers and armed personnel."
"Anyone who wants to divide people on communal lines has no place in our civilised nation", said Capt Amarinder, addressing a Congress gathering, where he also took frank and direct questions from people who had come to hear him. Congress candidates Santokh Chaudhary from Jalandhar and Raj Kumar Chabbewal from Hoshiarpur welcomed him to the event ground near Gurdwara Sri Gangsar Sahib.
Asserting that his blood boils when he hears Modi shamelessly ask for votes in the name of the Pulwama martyrs or the Balakot air strikes, Capt Amarinder Singh said the prime minister’s behaviour was repulsive. “It is the fauj (soldiers) of India and its people who are getting killed everyday in the line of duty; it is not Modi’s fauj. He is using their sacrifice for political gains,” he said.
“The media, which he controls, is also speaking the voice of the prime minister, but the people can see which way the winds are blowing, these winds will sweep Modi and his BJP away,” declared the Chief Minister, expressing the confidence that the people will teach them a lesson and the Congress will sweep to power in these elections.
Lashing out at the Akalis over the spate of sacrilege cases, and the Behbal Kalan and Bargari incidents of police firing, in the last 18 months of their rule, Capt Amarinder warned that their attempts to scuttle the SIT probe would not succeed. The very officer the Badals had got transferred out would be back with the SIT the day polling ends and ensure that those responsible for the desecrations and the killings are punished.
Pointing out that not a single major case of sacrilege had been reported since his government came to power, the Chief Minister said clearly indicated who was behind those cases.
People want peace for themselves and their kids to ensure a better future, said Captain Amarinder, pointing out that peace can only sustain in an environment of communal harmony. Peace was essential to attract industry and ensure development, which alone can bring jobs for the children and progress for the state, he added
Pointing to the significance of Kartarpur in the context of the 550th Parkash Purb celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev, the Chief Minister hoped the Kartarpur Corridor would become functional in time for the momentous occasion to enable all devotees to pay their respects at the historic gurdwara across the border. Taking a dig at Modi for failing to take the Sultanpur Lodhi development scheme forward personally, Captain Amarinder said the union home minister had held some meetings but had only invited the Badals to discuss the plans.
He also squarely blamed the Modi government for aggravating the problems of industry and farmers with its wrong policies, including demonetisation, GST, non-implementation of MS Swaminathan Commission recommendations etc. They will pay for their sins, he warned, adding that their days were numbered and the Congress would soon take over the reins of the country’s future.
To a question from the public, Capt Amarinder said financial constraints, including the Rs 31000 crore credit loan, had prevented his government from implementing all promises at the outset but there were still three years to fulfill all. The smart phones promised to youngsters would also begin to be distributed soon after the polls as his government had already ordered the first instalment of 3.5 lakh of the 10.5 lakh phones required under the scheme.
On a question of corn MSP, he said the only solution was implementation of MS Swaminathan recommendations, which the Congress president Rahul Gandhi had already promised along with other farmer-friendly measures once the party comes to power.