Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh today said that right people from all political parties were always welcome in the Congress. He did not rule out the possibility of more leaders from other political parties joining the Congress in the coming days, but refused to divulge any names.Talking to reporters after inaugurating the SC Conclave of the party organised as part of the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Capt Amarinder also said that winnability will be the sole criterion for choosing the candidates in forthcoming assembly elections.Asked whether party can shuffle the candidates in the next assembly elections, the PCC president said, every constituency and every candidate will be thoroughly assessed before the final nomination and if the need be, the party can take any decision.
On the issue of alliance, Capt Amarinder said, he had favoured the alliance between the likeminded secular parties like the People’s Party of Punjab, which had already merged with the Congress, the CPI and the CPM and the BSP. He said, he still favoured an alliance with these parties and was hopeful.Replying to a question on the stir by the students in the Jawahar Lal Nehru University, the PCC president said, it was quite unfortunate. At the same time he said, the Constitution guaranteed the freedom of expression to everyone and it must not be muzzled at any cost.However, referring to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s disclosures that the JNU protests were sponsored by the ISI backed terrorist organisations, he said, he (the Home Minister) must come out with the details as the country has the right to know.
Capt Amarinder said, it was immaterial for the Congress whether the Akalis and the BJP contested together or separately. He said, both the parties had been finished off and the BJP cannot now escape the blame which it is desperately trying to do. He said, similarly the Aam Aadmi Party was no challenge to the Congress as the party was only creating a false hype.Asked about his allegations that it (the AAP) was pursuing an extremist agenda, Capt Amarinder reiterated that the AAP was playing a dangerous game by playing up extremist sentiments. He pointed out, in 1970s there was Naxalite movement which was followed by the militancy and Punjab suffered for over a decade. “AAP should resort to democratic means and not to the divisive and extremist agenda that can set Punjab on fire”, he warned.On improving the education standards in the schools, the former Chief Minister said, right now Punjab was divided between haves and have-nots. He said, people from affluent strata of the society were going to private schools and performing exceptionally well with a score as much as 99 percent. On the other hand, a huge majority up to 80 percent of the kids in government schools were failing in studies. He said, it was important to bridge this gap.