Punjab Congress legislature Party (ClP) leader Charanjit Singh Channi on Monday took oath along with the party’s all seven ticket aspirants from Balachaur Assembly segment in the local gurudwara to support the party’s official candidate.
All the seven candidates — Jaswinder Kumar Biki, Rajwinder lucky, Darshan lal Mangupur, Sandeep Bhatia, Ashok Nanuwal, Santosh Kataria, and Dr Rajdeep Sandhu — agreed to fully support the official candidate of the party maintaining that there would be no backstabbing by anyone.
Channi, who was on the Congress Express tour of the constituency, said that the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal should stop cheating the people by seeking votes in the name of contesting election for the last time.
“You sought votes during 2007 and 2012 elections by playing upon the emotions of the people by seeking votes saying that this was going to be his last election. For the sake of record, you can tell your staff to show you the newspaper cuttings of your pleadings. Even otherwise, you are not the person to forget anything. You are again using the same card saying this is going to be your last election and the victory would add 10 years to your age. I pray that you live longer, more than 10 years but please stop exploiting sentiments of the people,” he said.
He asserted that February 2017 election would be contested on the agenda of “open loot by the Badal government”.
Not sparing the saffron party, Channi said: “BJP, SAD’s alliance partner, collaborated in this brazen loot with many of its leaders keeping their eyes and ears closed while some of them joined the looters brigade.”
He said, “Punjab turned into drug haven under the Badal government. This government turned into mafia rule for which the people would never forgive Badal and his gang.”
Channi said that there was no need for Badal to seek votes on the same plea for the third time as the people themselves would ensure that this was going to be his last election and he had already realized people’s anger against him reflected in protests by ordinary people at his sangat darshan programmes in his lambi constituency.
He said this was one government that has been splurging taxpayers money for luxurious life styles of its leaders and the latest example was of the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal going to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan to attend official meeting in a chartered plane and staying there in a seven-star hotel along with his staff.