Punjab big guns slug it out, predict huge win for their parties
NEW DELHI: “We are going to whip them by God’s grace,” Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh said on Friday as state deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal looked on, setting the tone for the upcoming Punjab assembly elections.
The two leaders shared the dais at the 14th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in what could be their only face-to-face debate before the crucial state elections.
And both leaders predicted a win for their parties. While Badal said the SAD was set to win more than 70 of the 117 seats that go to the polls, Captain Singh predicted a rout of the ruling party that has been in power in the state for almost 10 years in alliance with the BJP. serious for Punjab’s future... AAP is not a party, it is the mood of the youngsters. It’s just their frustration. We have to speak to them (the youngsters) and convince them.. AAP is selling tickets in Punjab,” Captain Singh said. Badal charged AAP with fielding candidates with “criminal records”. Punjab’s drug problem is a creation of the media, the SAD leader claimed. “Rahul Gandhi came to Punjab and read from a paper saying 70% of our youth are drug addicts. His problem is he can only read from what is given to him written on a paper,” he said.
Captain Singh said, after wresting power in Punjab from Parkash Singh Badal in 2002, he had a survey conducted that showed half of the girls and 70% of the boys had tried drugs. During the Badal regime police stations were used to stock poppy husk, he alleged.
Badal, however, blamed the Border Security Force for drugs being smuggled into Punjab from Pakistan. Badal said the government had been voted back to power five years ago “because of our performance.” Punjab has gone from a power deficit to a power surplus state, he said.
“Every village has internet and in one year’s time all of Punjab’s cities will be connected by expressways,” Badal said.
Captain Singh expressed doubts, saying “Punjab is bankrupt. We are down on our knees...this is my last election, I want to set right what these chaps have done wrong.” Badal hit out at the Congress’s high-command culture for imposing former BJP MP Navjot Sidhu on Captain Singh. “Sidhu said he wants to come to a Congress minus Captain. Maybe the high command has told Sidhu the Captain won’t be there,” he said. Singh said people of Punjab were getting disillusioned with demonetisation by the day. “Tempers are rising. Punjab has a short fuse,” he warned, challenging Union finance minister Arun Jaitley to fight the Lok Sabha by-election from Amritsar.
Badal said things were under control but “demonetisation is going to create a problem if the cash crunch persists after a few months”.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is not a party, it is the mood of the youngsters. It’s just their (youths’) frustration. We have to speak to them (the youngsters) and convince them.. AAP is selling tickets in Punjab.
AMARINDER SINGH, Punjab Congress chief, on AAP’s position in Punjab