Enjoying almost complete support of the Congress party MlAs, the newly appointed Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Capt Amarinder Singh is now looking at the possibility of making a friend out of his arch rival Partap Singh Bajwa to present a united front before 2017 State Assembly elections.
At the same time, he is not missing an opportunity of attacking the party in power in a well thought of political strategy, besides the new-sprung Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the State.
That is not all! Capt Amarinder also reiterated that the Congress was open to an alliance with the secular and like-minded parties.
Accompanied by 37 MlAs during his first trip to the Golden Temple after his appointment as State Congress chief, Capt Amarinder not only extended the hand of friendship to Bajwa, but also blamed the Badals for the incidents of sacrilege that tore the social fibre in the State.
PPCC president asserted that the party was completely united in the State. “I have already spoken to Partap Singh Bajwa and invited him to attend the Bathinda rally, besides seeking his full cooperation, to which he has gladly agreed,” said Capt Amarinder while talking with the media after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple and Durgiana Mandir.
He said, “There is complete unity in the party as was proven today with 37 MlAs being present when we paid obeisance at Darbar Sahab and Durgiana Mandir, while others had called up as they were not able to come for different reasons.”
Mincing now words, the former Chief Minister said there was no unrest in Punjab and it was created by the Badal Government to divert public’s attention from other serious issues plaguing the State.
“The sacrilege incident is deliberately orchestrated by the Badals as an attempt at controlled destabilisation in the State, which eventually went out of their control, to divert public attention from the farmers’ agitation and other failures…If an independent and impartial inquiry is conducted, the buck will stop right at the Badals,” he said.
He added, that is why the Congress was demanding a probe by a sitting Supreme Court or a High Court judge.
On upcoming State Assembly polls, he said, “We are confident about forming the next Government in the State. Our only competition is Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Badals don’t stand a chance of winning this time.” “Even AAP lacks leadership and has no definite policies related to Punjab. So, it is no threat to us,” he added.
Reacting on reports regarding Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal coming to Punjab, he said, “Kejriwal is welcome in the State. But he must remember that Punjab has major issues with Haryana and he is a Haryanvi. So, he needs to clear beforehand whether he would side with Haryana or work for the upliftment of Punjab.”
He added that the Congress was open to alliance with secular forces, be it anyone, including left parties.
Meanwhile, Capt said that he won’t hold big rallies to generate votes but will concentrate on people to people contact for the upcoming elections.
He said that he had accepted the challenge from Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal to organise a rally at Bathinda. “I would formally take over the reins of the party’s (State unit) at that rally,” he said.
He reiterated that it was the right of every Sikh to participate in “Sarbat Khalsa” (congregation of Sikhs). Amarinder had invited sharp criticism from ruling Akali Dal for backing Sikhs participating in ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ held at Amritsar on November 10.
launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he termed the BJP as “single man show”.
He called upon the people to throw “the team of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal” controlling the SGPC led by Avtar Singh Makkar and elect clean and committed people instead.