Confident of win by “lakhs of votes”, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder on Monday held a road show with the Congress party putting up a united face as his bête noire and Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa coming on-board too.
Capt Amarinder, enthused by the massive response to his roadshow on the last day of campaigning for Gurdaspur by-poll, expressed confidence of winning the bye-election with a “historic” margin.
“We would win this seat with a margin of over two lakh votes,” he said, accompanied by the party’s candidate Sunil Jakhar, AICC general secretaries Asha Kumari and Harish Chaudhry, and Bajwa, among others.
Denying any rift in the party over the allotment of ticket to Jakhar, he said that Pratap Singh Bajwa had never stayed away from campaigning. “like me, he too had some commitments in Delhi, which he fulfilled and joined the campaign” he sad.
He claimed that the Congress Government “has not only implemented many of its poll promises but has also set the ball rolling for bringing the beleaguered State economy back on track”.
“Be it enhancement of pensions under social welfare schemes or our promise of providing jobs, every election promise that we made is in the process of implementation,” he added, reiterating that the decade-long legacy of the previous Akali-BJP regime cannot be wiped out within a short span of six months or so.
Capt Amarinder said that his Government was also working on a plan to implement its promise of providing smart phones to youth.
On the issue of crop loan waiver to the farmers, he said that Punjab, unlike some other States, had decided to waive off loans up to Rs 2 lakh for farmers with up to five acres of land and an outright relief of Rs 2 lakh each to other small and marginal farmers, irrespective of their loan amount which will benefit 10.25 lakh of the 13 lakh farming families who borrowed loans while ridiculing the opposition for attempting to negate the work done by his Government.
All steps were being taken to provide timely payment to farmers against their paddy crop in the ongoing procurement season, he added.
He said that despite financial constraints, Congress Government had sanctioned money for projects worth Rs 750 crores in Gurdaspur and Pathankot and work had already started on many.
The State Congress president and party nominee Jakhar said that langah’s rape case had hurt hard-core Sikh sentiments and demoralised SAD party workers. “Allegations against Salaria are too of a grave nature but I would not like to comment on them…We are fighting the elections on a positive agenda. They would have to pay for what they have done,” he said.
CIVIl, POlICE OFFICERS COERCING SARPANCHES, COUNCIllORS: SAD
Dinanagar: SAD president Sukhbir Badal on Monday said that the civil and police officers were coercing panches, sarpanches and municipal councillors to vote for the Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar on the Congress Government’s orders.
Sukhbir, addressing a series of public meetings, said that it was condemnable that block development officers, executive officers and SHOs were ringing up sarpanches and councillors and threatening them that vigilance cases would be initiated against them in case they supported BJP candidate Swarn Salaria.
The elected representatives were also being threatened with dismissal from their posts, he alleged.
Sukhbir said that this kind of blatant misuse of official machinery on behalf of the Congress party was being done because the Congress workers and even the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh did not have the guts to face the electorate.
“People want to ask Congressmen why they reneged on their promise of complete loan waiver of Rs 90,000 crore and Ghar Ghar Naukari promise and why they have stopped all welfare schemes be if Shagun, Aata-Daal and old age pension. Since the Congress party is unable to answer these questions, they are now depending on officers to solicit votes for them,” he said.
Sukhbir added that that was the reason why Capt Amarinder stayed away from electioneering in Gurdaspur and instead chosen to do a road show “and wave to the people siting Maharaja-like on a chair atop a bus rather than meeting people one-on-one and answering their questions”.
SAD chief forewarned the people that more anti-people measures would be introduced in case Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar was not rejected.
“The Government has decided to impose power bills on tubewell connections after the Gurdaspur by-poll. Canal water user charges (abiyana) collection is also slated to start next month,” he said.
CONG’s ASHWANI SEKHRI’S BORTHER JOINS SAD
Batala: Former Congress Minister Ashwani Sekhri’s brother Inder Sekhri on Monday joined hands with the SAD.
SAD president Sukhbir Badal, welcoming Inder Sekhri and his supporters into the SAD at a function organised at the latter’s residence, said that Inder was the force behind Ashwani Sekhri and used to manage all his election campaigns.
He said that Inder was also known as a worker who had earned the respect of the Congress cadre due to his sheer hard work for the party. “The Congress has suffered an irreparable loss and its result will be reflected in the Gurdaspur parliamentary by poll,” he added.
Inder Sekhri, speaking on the occasion, said that he has got thoroughly disillusioned with the policies of the Congress party over the last few years. “I have decided to throw my lot with the SAD when I realised that the Congress is not going to implement any of its promises including loan waiver to farmers and jobs to youth,” he said.
APP ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR SAlARIA
Chandigarh: AAP’s former state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur’s Apna Punjab Party (APP) on Monday announces its support to the BJP candidate Swaran Salaria in Gurdaspur bye-elections.
The party claimed that the support is to the NDA for the bypoll, and it would consider its support for the future.
Party spokesman Hardeep Singh Kingra, announcing the decision during a press conference on Monday, said that the party has supported the policies of the Modi Government.
“The country has benefited from the demonetisation and GST, and is moving forward under Modi’s leadership,” he said.
He added that the RSS always think good for the Sikhs and the country, and they have no issues with the RSS.
“At this time, this decision is right for us and the decision was taken by keeping in mind the Punjab’s interest,” he added.