Desperate to get its foothold back in Punjab, the Congress on Saturday played all its card at the national integration rally here on the occasion of the death anniversary of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.
All the leaders who addressed the gathering time and again invoked the martyrdom of Beant Singh who was assassinated in 1995 and tried to strike a cord with the people of Punjab where the party has been sidelined in repeated elections by the SAD-BJP Government. The big wigs of the Congress who were here to attend the rally made it a point to remind the people that democracy in Punjab is a gift by Beant Singh who gave his life for the cause but the current SAD-BJP alliance which was reaping the fruit of this were ungrateful towards the great son of Punjab.
Shakeel Ahmed, general secretary AICC and in-charge of Punjab and Haryana, said, “Sacrifice made by Beant Singh for the peace and integrity of nation had made every Congress leader proud of legacy of the former Chief Minister. It is most significant day for the Congress party since AICC president Sonia Gandhi had personally asked central party leaders to attend the function. I am upset to know that Punjab Government was not observing any official function to pay tributes to Beant Singh.”
Ahmed said that it was time for all Congress leaders of Punjab to work under the leadership of PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa to realise the dreams of late Beant Singh. He time and again reminded the workers that unity and discipline is the only thing that might bring the Congress back to power in the State. However, Jai Ram Ramesh, another stalwart of the Congress basking in the glory of the recently passed land Acquisition Bill in the lok Sabha, attacked the Akalis on all front and blamed them for wrongly propagating their contribution in development of the State by appropriating the efforts made by the Central Government.
Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister for Rural Development said, “The land Acquisition Bill passed by lok Sabha was a revolutionary step in which for the first time the provision of rehabilitation of land owners was made. The Congress had changed the 119 year old land Acquisition Act which lacked human touch. No land could be acquired without the consent of 80 percent of farmers of the village and amount of compensation would be four times the Collector’s rate of land in that area.”
However he made it a point that despite some opposition from the Congress leaders of Punjab his efforts of development will be directed towards the people of Punjab and in his best wit and humor Ramesh said that he would be really grateful if Prakash Singh Badal sometimes even by mistake talked about center’s contribution towards the State of Punjab.