In a vitriolic attack on the Badals, Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh on Saturday vowed to give Rs dusht’ (wicked) Badal a massive thrashing in lambi for the atrocities he has committed against Dalits and other sections of society during the last 10 years in the State.
Addressing a series of election rallies in the Malwa belt, including Bassi Pathana, Payal and Amloh, Amarinder flayed the Badals for ruining the state with their “lootmaar” and also lashed out at AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal for planning to loot Punjab by misleading the people with his false promises.
Hitting the campaign trail in the morning with a public rally in Bassi Pathana, Amarinder lambasted the Badals for their criminalisation of Punjab through their patronisation of all kinds of mafia, including transport, sand, liquor etc.
He said Badals’ buses have been killing innocent people, while the entire state is reeling under total collapse, triggered by the Badal misgovernance and corrupt policies. The state party chief promised revival of the state’s growth and uplift of the backward sections through various public welfare schemes, including reservations in jobs, free housing and education, as well as expansion of the atta-dal scheme to encompass free sugar and tea.
“Baabe nunh lambi vich kuttanga (I will beat Badal in lambi),” declared Amarinder, assailing Badal’s sangat darshan as waste of public money, while also castigating the chief minister for allowing incidents of religious sacrilege to mar the state’s communal harmony. He described the incidents as an attempt by the Akalis to polarize the Punjab society ahead of the polls, saying Badal was not a true believer of Sikhi (Sikhism) since he was indulging in spreading communal disharmony.
The (PPCC) president said atrocities against Dalits had gone up manifold, increasing from 651 in 2007 to 12834 by 2015. Promising to bring Dalits back into the mainstream of the society with welfare schemes as promised in the party manifesto,
Captain Amarinder said he would ensure that all those found guilty of any crime against Dalits are given exemplary punishment.
He also asserted that he would give one job to each family, thus ensuring that the 90 lakh unemployed/underemployed youth in the state are given gainful employment to wean them away from drugs and put State back on the path to progress. lamenting the growing incidence of farmer suicides in the state, the Punjab Congress president reiterated his promise to waive off all farmer loans, with the government taking over their debts once his party comes to power.
Promising revival of the industry, Captain Amarinder said he would ensure the refund
of the Rs 600 crore VAT by selling of the hotels of the Badals to generate the necessary revenue. lamenting the closure of 220 steel units in the region, Captain Amarinder said at Amloh that the Congress, once elected to power, would give the state the much-needed modern economic management.
Terming these assembly polls, which he has already declared to be his last, Amarinder exhorted the people to exercise their vote judiciously as these elections “are a fight for our future.”
The PPCC chief promised to get all the false cases against innocent people cancelled after getting them reinvestigated, adding that the Congress had the support of a lot of like-minded people, including a large number of NRIs, who would come in over the next two days to join the party’s campaign against the corrupt and criminal Akalis.
Referring to Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Captain Amarinder said a party run by outsiders, which had failed to fulfill even a single promise made to the people of Delhi, could not be trusted to protect the interests of Punjab. Kejriwal has only come to loot the state and its people, as was evident from the way they had been selling tickets to candidates for contesting the polls.
Congress candidate from Bassi Pathana, Gurpreet GP, Payal candidate lakhvi Singh lakha and Amloh party candidate Kaka Randeep were present in the rallies in their respective constituencies.