Shooting its two rivals with one shot, Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday accused the Badal family of plunging Punjab into devastation and destruction while asserting that this was no time to experiment with a new political dispensation, with a clear hint at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
“Punjab needs urgent intervention by an experienced leadership to usher in a ‘nawan sawera’ (new dawn) in the State,” said Capt Amarinder while addressing public rallies at Dharamkot and Moga.
The former Chief Minister took on the Badal family and their associates, State Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia and Agriculture Minister Tota Singh, as well as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his AAP for their “nefarious designs” against Punjab and its people.
Capt Amarinder claimed that only the Congress could bring the State back on the track of progress and rescue the people from the misery and wretchedness in which they had been living “for the last 10 years”.
He alleged that Punjab was left reeling under a multi-crore debt and a huge budget deficit, and needed experienced leaders to rescue it from the crisis it had been thrown into by the Badals.
Capt Amarinder urged the people to seriously think whether they wanted an “experienced and stable Government, which only the Congress could provide”, or an “anarchist party” like AAP or “looters” like the ruling SAD-BJP combine.
He exhorted the people to take a decision in the interest of their future and that of their children.
“The chhota (Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh) Badal is busy making hotels, lambu Majithia is busy selling chitta (heroin) and the senior (Chief Minister Parkash Singh) Badal is wasting time and money on sangat darshans,”said Capt Amarinder.
On the other hand, “Haryanvi” Kejriwal and his party were “only interested in looting Punjab and promoting their personal interests”, the former chief minister alleged.
“With not a single Punjabi in the party, and with allegations of sale of tickets and molestation of women, AAP has absolutely no leg to stand on and could not be trusted to ensure Punjab’s development,” he said.
He accused Chief Minister Badal of trying to spread communal disharmony and polarisation through incidents of sacrilege and desecration, and vowed to throw him behind bars after having all such cases reinvestigated once elected to power.
Vowing to expose Sukhbir and Majithia for their patronage of drugs and other mafias, Capt Amarinder declared that he would go to Majitha and Jalalabad to show their true colours to the people.
Capt Amarinder lashed out at the Akali candidate from MOga constituency and Tota Singh’s son Barjinder Singh Makhan Brar, allegedly involved in a sex scandal, saying that people like this father-son duo were a disgrace on politics.