Badal and family gear up for Assembly polls?

“The Congress has started preparing for Mission 2017 to show the Akalis the door and to free the people of poor Governance of the SAD-BJP Government in Punjab,” said Capt Amarinder, while addressing a rally at Rampura Phull town of Bathinda district.

Amritsar MP said that there was widespread resentment and disillusionment prevailing among the Akali rank and file against the Badals and it will be manifested in 2017 Assembly elections. “Several Akali leaders are in regular touch with me and are waiting for the elections to join hands with me,” claimed the Patiala Royal.

“Every section of the people, including the Akalis, is feeling disillusioned as the Badals have not been able to look beyond their own family interests,” he said.

“Not only in Punjab, even abroad, people are very angry with them and this anger was vented at the Akali leaders when they went on a tour of North America,” he pointed out, while criticising the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal for alleging that those who opposed the Akalis in North America were Khalistan supporters.

“They are the people who are concerned about Punjab and have been victimised here with false cases and suffered land grabbing and they had every reason to show their resentment against the Akalis…It is highly condemnable on part of Sukhbir to write off everybody as a Khalistani,” he added.lashing out at local MlA and cabinet minister Sikander Singh Maluka “for letting lose a reign of terror on the Congress supporters including physical intimidation and registration of false cases including those of murder”, Capt Amarinder served an ultimatum telling him that his countdown had already started as he was not going to be the minister for a very long time anymore.

Referring to the discrimination and victimisation by the Akalis with the areas supporting the Congress like Meraj, his ancestral village, Capt Amarinder regretted Akalis’ mind-set of behaving in such a manner.Taking a dig at the ruling Badals, Capt Amarinder said that they had already started speculating that he would stop free power to farmers if voted to power. “I can assure farmers that power subsidy will not be stopped. The Congress is a pro-farmer party…Not only will our government continue with the free power to the farmers and Dalits consuming 200 units of power, I will ensure that they get the regular power supply, which they are not getting right now,” he said claiming that it was he who started free power to the farmers.

later replying to a question on Dinanagar terrorist attack, Capt Amarinder reiterated his caution to Badal against fiddling with the panthic agenda. “The ISI will always try to fish in the troubled waters. It is our responsibility to ensure that we do not allow any such thing to happen so that they find the ground fertile to carry out their nefarious plans,” he said.