Attacking the Opposition leaders, including Navjot Singh Sidhu and Partap Singh Bajwa, from left, right and centre, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday got personal in his attack. Responding to the “personal allegations” by the opposition leaders, Mann evoked the personal lives of his opponents.
Recalling Sidhu’s attack, Mann said: “Sidhu was saying that the only badlav (change) Mann brought was that he changed his wife…I want to remind Sidhu sahib that you, too, are the son of the second wife. If your father had not brought about this change at your home, you would not have been born.”
As the Chief Minister made these remarks, while addressing the gathering during the inauguration ceremony of the Mother and Child Care Centre in Kharar on Wednesday, the audience was not able to decide whether to applause or sit quiet, giving a mixed response.
Mann was responding to Sidhu’s remarks during the Jalandhar all-party meeting, where he had taken potshot and the former comedian, “Eh Majnu Mann, jehdra badlaav karan challeya si, sivaaye gharwali de badleya ki ehne? (This Majnu Mann was going to bring about a change. But what has he changed except his wife?)”
Furthering his attack on Sidhu, Mann said: “Sidhu was like a suit gifted during weddings which nobody wants to accept or even unpack. It keeps getting passed on as a gift. But the Congress opened that packet and got Sidhu out. They are now trying hard to get him back into it but to no avail.”
“These people have studied in branded schools. We are from government schools. What was he saying? I will respond to him in the same language,” said Mann, adding that in fact the person, with whom they have gone to express their hamdardi (sympathy), also has two wives.
Further responding to the comments regarding AAP MLAs and leaders getting married in large numbers after the party came to power in Punjab, Mann said: “What can we do if our MLAs are as young as 25, 26 years!
Describing the entire opposition as a “coterie of rejected politicians”, the Chief Minister said that in the dearth of any issue against the State Government, these leaders are stooping too low by leveling personal allegations against him.
“AAP government has locked their shops for looting the people so they have joined their hands to stop a common man from serving the state and its people,” said Mann while daring that the gimmicks of these politicians will not work as people are well aware of their dubious character and they had already given a befitting reply to them by ousting them in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-poll.
Commenting on the new-found bonhomie between arch-rivals Bikram Singh Majithia and Sidhu during the all-party meeting, he said that the hug between Sidhu and Majithia reflects the fact that they people are bereft of any ideological commitment and can join hands anytime for securing their political interests.
“These leaders were trounced badly by the AAP legislature Dr Jiwanjot Kaur due to which they have been now forced to hug each other,” he quipped.
Further taking a dig at the “outburst” of the Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa against young MLAs, Mann said that it reflect his frustration as throughout life, he had vied for getting chairs but had not succeeded. “Now, he is not able to digest that young people, that too from common families, have been elected by the people,” he said.
35th Mother-Child Care Centre Inaugurated Within a Year
To further impart quality health services to the people, the Chief Minister dedicated the 35th Mother and Child Care Centre to the people within a year. Mann, addressing the gathering, envisioned that this newly-constructed hospital at a cost of Rs eight crore will act as a catalyst to impart quality health care to the pregnant women and newly born child. “The move is aimed to ensure that people get quality health services in these hospitals. So far, 35 hospitals have been dedicated out of total 45 to the people in the last one year, and more such hospitals will be constructed across the state in coming days,” he said.
The Chief Minister asserted that 584 Aam Aadmi Clinics are now operational in the state to offer free healthcare services to people, while 75-100 more clinics will be dedicated to the people in coming days. “These clinics have already proved to be a cornerstone in imparting quality health services to people…So far, 31.19 lakh patients from across the state have been benefited from these clinics which are offering around 41 type of diagnostics tests along with free medicines to people,” he said.
Mann said that the state government schools have been turned into harbingers of quality education and numbers of students from private schools are now taking admission in them after leaving their schools. “In a revolutionary step, 15 ‘Schools of Eminence’ will be operational in the state by August 15. These schools are focusing on grooming the students for five professional and competitive courses, including engineering, law, commerce, UPSC and NDA,” he said.
Successive Corrupt Govts Done Irreparable Damage to State
Taking the successive state governments in the state to cudgels, the Chief Minister said that these corrupt people ignored the interests of the state for their vested political interests. “These politicians established their monopoly over the health, education, transport and other sectors by ruining the government institutions. These leaders were so greedy that they didn’t even spare the food joints which were attracting huge crowds and tried to get a share in them too,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that these corrupt leaders did irreparable damage to the health and education sector by joining hands with the private players’ thereby causing huge loss to the general public. Likewise, the Transport mafia too flexed their muscles during their tenures that also at the cost of public transport service, he said, adding that the tyrannical days of these selfish politicians are over, and now every decision is being taken for the well-being of the state and its people.