Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday declared that the Congress party did not need any allies or alliance in the State as it was already in a strong position to wrest power from the Akali-BJP alliance on its own.
Capt Amarinder, addressing a rally organised by Tarn Taran district Congress Committee president Sukhpal Bhullar and Khem Karan Assembly
segment in-charge Gurchet Singh Bhullar at Amarkot, also cautioned the people against “last minute allurements” by the Akalis in order to steal their votes with deceit.
The Congress Deputy leader in the lok Sabha asserted that given the response his rallies were getting across the state, including Tuesday’s rally at Amarkot, “the writing is already on the wall that Congress is storming to power in Punjab with a landslide mandate”.
Responding to media queries whether he favoured or looked forward to an alliance with some like-minded parties in Punjab as in Bihar, Capt Amarinder said that the situation here was entirely different from what it was in Bihar.
Senior Congress leader, when told that some senior party leaders were favouring a similar alliance in Punjab, said that everybody was entitled to his or her opinion but the ground situation of the party in Punjab does not really require any alliance.
Earlier, addressing the rally, Capt Amarinder lashed out at the Akali-BJP government, particularly Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, saying that he had grown too old to govern the state.
“I have been repeatedly asking the Chief Minister to list one single achievement that he could claim of his own for Punjab, he is yet to come out with any, since he has none,” said Capt Amarinder.
Referring to the much-touted ‘Atta-Daal’ scheme, which Badal announced prior to 2012 elections, the former Chief Minister asked, “Where has it goneIJ”
“This scheme was launched only to fool people at the time of elections. The moment they won elections, they forgot that they had promised Atta-Daal to the poor,” he pointed out, while adding that similar was the case with old-age and widow pensions and Shagun schemes which had not been paid for last six months now.
Responding to the demands by the local leaders including Sukhpal and Gurchet Bhullar, Ramanjit Singh Sikki and Rana Gurjeet Singh, Capt Amarinder promised that the local MlA Virsa Singh Voltoha will be subjected to the same fate and treatment he meted out with Congress workers.
“We will make him account for each and every false FIR he got registered against our workers,” he said, while adding, “he will run for cover and nobody will protect him.”