AICC general secretary Shakeel Ahmed on Friday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging he was "anti-people and anti-farmer", working only to protect the interests of a select few and specifically blamed him for the continued uncertainty confronting the Punjabi farmers settled in Gujarat for years who now faced eviction threat.
Addressing a political conference on Rakhra Punia here, Ahmed asserted the Congress would form the Government in Punjab in February 2017 Assembly elections saying the party was fully united. He said while the income of the ruling Badal family continued to rise exponentially, the people continued to land deeper and deeper into quagmire. He said the Badal family controlled cable, transport and several other businesses.
In his address, PCC president Partap Singh Bajwa sought mandate of the people on three issues by asking them to raise their hands which included CBI probe into drug scam, debt waiver for farmers and implementation of OROP.
He called upon Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to get `51,000 loan waiver for the farmers from the Modi Government. He said the decision to implement OROP was taken by the UPA Government but the Modi Government was implementing it.
Former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal targeted Modi for failing on his promise to bring back black money and distribute the same among the common people as used to be his refrain in the run up to the Parliamentary elections. She said both jawan and kisan were the worst sufferers under the present dispensation.
Indian Youth Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring demanded Supreme Court monitored CBI probe into drug smuggling. He made comparisons of the social welfare schemes like old age pension, shagun scheme etc between Punjab and Haryana and said Punjab was far behind the neighbouring State.
Warring alleged that Badal and his son and the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal were funding the Aam Aadmi Party as part of their strategy to weaken the Congress and called upon the people to remain alert.