Gurdaspur, 22 September(Wishav Warta): Asserting that the Congress would contest the ensuing Gurdaspur by-election on the plank of development, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday rubbished the “outsider” tag on party nominee Sunil Jakhar, and said that Punjab, being a small state, cannot be divided in such small terms.
Talking to media after accompanying PCCC president Sunil Jakhar for filing his nomination papers at the DC office, the Chief Minister said, “Punjab had been divided several times since partition and it’s a pity that we still think in such terms. How can a Punjabi not be of Punjab?”.
Captain Amarinder Singh said that though he belonged to Patiala, he had successfully contested the Amritsar Lok Sabha elections and the voters there had never considered him an outsider. “Opponents raise such petty issues in an attempt to mislead the voters,” he said, adding that even the late actor and MP Vinod Khanna, whose death had necessitated the by-poll, hailed from Mumbai.
Replying to a question on farm loan waiver, the Chief Minister said that the cabinet had approved the draft notification and the same would be issued after clearance from the Election Commission. He said that he did not foresee any objections from the EC, as the announcement to waive off crop loans, upto Rs 2 lakhs for small and marginal farmers (upto 5 acres) and a relief of Rs 2 lakhs for to the remaining marginal farmers irrespective of their loan amount, was announced by him on the floor of the House in June.
Saying that he would have personally wanted to provide more relief to the farmers, Captain Amarinder Singh said that he had inherited a government with empty coffers and hence at present could not afford to do more. “While UP, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are waiving loans of only Rs 50,000, we have waived off crop loans upto Rs 2 Lakhs”, he said.
Later, addressing a public rally, Captain Amarinder asserted that his government would find ways and means to raise the money for the promised loan waiver. He had made this assurance before the elections and still maintained his government would ensure that the funds for farm loan waiver are arranged, he added.
The chief minister said that despite the financial constraints, his government had fulfilled a large number of promises made in the party’s manifesto. Captain Amarinder said that he had already announced a series of projects for the holistic development of the border areas of Gurdaspur and Pathankot, including health and education infrastructure, besides 97,000 new cards under the MGNREGA scheme. He said that money for projects worth Rs 750 crores in Gurdaspur and Pathankot had already been sanctioned and work had started on many. He said Rs. 84 crore had been set aside for providing toilets and water connections to all rural households in the district.
Taking a dig at BJP candidate, Swaran Singh Salaria, Captain Amarinder Singh said, “what can he do for the constituency when he failed to even run his own medical college in Chintpurini, jeopardizing the careers of 1800 students”. He said the High Court had ordered the closure of Salaria’s college and his government had sought permission from MCI to adjust the students in other medical colleges in Punjab to secure their future.
Urging people to vote for Sunil Jakher, the chief minister described him as an honest and an upright farmer, an eloquent speaker and a fearless and clean politician. “He alone can raise your voice in the Parliament”, he said adding that the time had come to take the battle for Punjab interests to the centre.
The chief minister also took on Akali leaders, Prakash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia, and said that they had plundered the state for a decade. “They were only interested in making money, even by patronising drug trade, and they ruined Punjab”, he said.
In his address, Tourism Minister, Navjot Sindhu, castigated the “salla-jijja” combine of Sukbhir Badal and Bikram Majithia and said that they had pushed the state to the brink of disaster. “You gave them 10 years, give us 10 months to prove that we can get Punjab back on the rails of progress”, he said. He lauded Captain Amarinder Singh’s decision to waive off crop loans and said that 8,000 farmers had committed suicide during the Akali-BJP tenure.
Predicting a total rout of AAP, Sidhu warned the people that a vote for the BJP would mean a vote for Sukhbir. Thanking the party high command for nominating Jakher, Sidhu said, “the day his name was announced, the Congress took a lead of one lakh votes in the constituency”.
The rally was attended by senior Congress leaders, including AICC In-charge of Punjab affairs Asha Kumari as well as AICC national secretary Harish Choudhary, besides Punjab cabinet ministers Navjot Singh Siddhu, Charanjit Singh Channi and Aruna Choudhary and MLAs.
