Campaigning for the party, AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab, Shakeel Ahmad, on Friday accused the ruling Akali Dal-BJP for turning this sensitive border State into a river of drugs affecting the very future of the youth and the region.
Addressing a rally at Kalanaur near the International border in the Dera Baba Nanak Assembly segment in support of State Congress chief, Partap Singh Bajwa, who is seeking re-election from Gurdaspur, Ahmad said the sea of humanity that had turned up at the rally in this remote corner of the constituency was a strong indication that the people would send back packing both the Akali Dal-BJP’s paratrooper candidate, Vinod Khanna and Sucha Singh Chhotepur, a rank opportunist fielded by the Aam Aadmi Party.
He said Partap Singh Bajwa had been entrusted with the responsibility to lead the party by the high command for a special task which he had been carrying out very efficiently and successfully with the result that the party had got strengthened every day.
He said the party high command was standing like a wall behind Bajwa.Coming down heavily on the Akali Dal-BJP Government, he said smuggling was being patronised by the Ministers as had been revealed by Jagdish Bhola, an ex-cop arrested by the police in Rs5,000 crore smuggling racket who had spilled the beans in front of journalists. He said this State Government was playing with not only the future of the youth but also the State itself.
Ahmad said BJP was steeped in corruption and two of its presidents had to go because of corruption charges. One of these presidents was convicted. In Karnataka, the party had re-inducted the former chief minister who had to quit on corruption charges. He said the BJP had no moral right to talk about corruption.
Blasting the Gujarat model of development, he said Modi had sold out his State to the corporate sector and the Adani group was allotted 45,000 acres of land for peanuts. Now, the corporate sector was managing his poll campaign at the national level.Bajwa spoke at length listing the achievements of the UPA Government, including the implementation of One Rank One Pension, food security, right to education,increase in MSP of wheat and paddy in last nine years and NRHM (108 Ambulance), PMGSY, MNREGA etc.