Cong, SAD to hold rallies in rival bastions on October 7
SHOWDOWN SOON Cong workers elated as CM to visit Lambi for the first time after last year’s assembly polls
CHANDIGARH : Punjab’s ruling Congress and opposition SAD on Sunday announced that their rallies in rival bastions of Lambi and Patiala, respectively, will be held on October 7. Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh will address a rally in Killianwali village in Lambi, the home constituency of Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal. The Akali Dal will hold an “anti-repression” rally in Patiala, the home turf of Amarinder.
BATHINDA/MUKTSAR/CHANDIGARH: Amid political slugfest over the Justice Ranjit Singh (retired) Commission report on sacrilege and the just-held zila parishad and panchayat samiti polls, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his predecessor and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patron Parkash Singh Badal will hold parallel rallies in each other’s bastions on October 7.
While the Congress will hold the rally at Killianwali in Muktsar district’s Lambi assembly segment represented by Badal, the Akali Dal will hold its rally in Patiala, the hometown of Amarinder Singh.
The CM last week had announced to hold the rally in Lambi in response to Badal’s two back-to-back rallies at Abohar and Faridkot recently in which he accused the ruling party of creating a discord in society by “threatening the hard-earned peace in Punjab”.
The SAD rallies were held after the party leadership came under fire as the Justice Ranjit Singh (retired) Commission report on sacrilege indicted the former CM for ordering the police to open fire on Sikh protesters at Faridkot’s Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in October 2015 that led to the death of two persons. Badal had not taken part in the party’s earlier ‘poll khol’ rallies.
Congress workers are elated as as this will be Amarinder’s first visit to Lambi after last year’s assembly polls.
CONG DELEGATION VISITS VENUE
In Chandigarh, an official spokesperson said a party delegation comprising state finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, power minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar, jails minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Warring visited the Killianwali grain market, the rally venue.
Manpreet said the party has started preparations to ensure mobilisation of its cadres for the rally.
He said the CM on Monday will take part in an event to inaugurate the refurbished martyr Naib Subedar Nand Singh Chowk, popularly known as Fauji Chowk. Bathinda deputy commissioner Praneet said since the progaramme is being organised by army authorities, he did not have much detail on it. Nand Singh was bestowed the Victoria Cross for his heroics in the World War II in 1944. He was also awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, posthumously, for his bravery in fighting Pakistani aggression in Jammu and Kashmir in 1947.
SAD slams ‘violence, booth capturing’
Announcing its ‘jabar virodhi’ rally on October 7 in its core committee meeting at Muktsar’s Badal village, SAD on Sunday condemned the violence and booth capturing by the ruling party to tilt the scales in their favour during the zila parishad and panchayat samiti polls.
The meeting was attended by Parkash Singh Badal, party chief Sukhbir Badal, Anandpur Sahib MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, former ministers Daljit Cheema, Sikander Singh Maluka and Bibi Jagir Kaur among others.
The party raised apprehension that the Congress will resort to violence in the upcoming panchayat polls also.
Speaking to the mediapersons after the meeting, Parkash Singh Badal said, “We are holding the rally against the Congress highhandedness (during the polls). Their workers captured booths. We won several seats in Lambi despite this.”
Daljit Singh Cheema said, “We also passed a resolution against the state government regarding VAT (value added tax) on petrol and diesel.”