Asserting that the state Police was fully vigilant and capable to thwart any sort of terror attack, the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today said that any attack on unity and integrity of the nation would be given a befitting reply.Interacting with the media persons on the sidelines of Sangat Darshan program in Fatehgarh Churian assembly segment here today, the Chief Minister said Punjab was fully competent to deal with any such attack on sovereignty of country. Mr. Badal said that he had already passed orders to Director General of Police (DGP) to enhance vigil for avoiding any sort of untoward incident in the state. “We are fully committed to uphold the sovereignty of the country and protect our borders by foiling any such attack”, he added.
The Chief Minister urged the Government of India (GoI) to treat Punjab frontier at par with Jammu-Kashmir for deployment of more contingents of Border Security force to check infiltration from across the border. Mr. Badal said that the Union government must deploy adequate force to effectively seal the borders of the state along with Pakistan. He said that the need of the hour was to replicate the formula for security which was applicable in J&K in Punjab also to intensify vigil on the border. “Punjab is a national frontier and concerted efforts must be made to beef its security for the sake of protecting unity and integrity of the nation”, he added.
Asked to comment on ‘darbars’ held by the state Congress Chief Captain Amarinder Singh, the Chief Minister said that in the false hope of forming government in the state the Lok Sabha MP from Amritsar was making this futile attempt. Mr. Badal said that the former Chief Minister had tried to imitate him by carrying out an exercise to meet people to shed the most inaccessible tag but it was of no use for general public. However, he said that the aristocratic psyche of Captain was reflective from the name of this meet the people program. “Darbars are held only by Maharajas whereas the servants of people undertake pro-people exercise like Sangat Darshan” added Mr. Badal.
On another query, the Chief Minister said that the state government has embarked a major recruitment drive to fill more than one lakh posts in the various departments of state government. He said that the process of filling these vacancies has already been started and would be completed soon. “We are providing jobs to lakh of youth whereas the previous Congress government had imposed a blanket ban on employment in the state”, added Mr. Badal. Earlier, addressing the public gatherings at Vihra and Fatehgarh Churian, the Chief Minister slammed the Congress and AAP leadership for trying to destabilize the peace, communal harmony and development by inciting communal tension in state.
He said the Congress has been a chronic pursuer of divide and rule policy adding that the newly formed AAP was also not an exception to it. He said that in their lust to capture power in the state these parties were behind the blood of Punjabis due to which they were trying to create communal tension in the state. “Congress has a poor track record of initiating such moves to incite communal tension to get votes due to which Punjab suffered badly during black days and now the AAP is also following the same suit” added Mr. Badal.
The Chief Minister further said that not only this but like the Congress party, AAP was also suffering from the anti-Punjab syndrome which has been exposed by the policies pursued by it in Delhi. Citing the examples, he said that AAP government in Delhi discontinued teaching of Punjabi language in schools, didn't observed a holiday on sacred Baisakhi festival, demolished the Piau sahib outside Gurdwara Sisganjh Sahib and above all have submitted an affidavit against the state in Apex court on SYL issue. Mr. Badal said that disguised in robe of Aam Aadmi (common man), these people were working overtime against the interests of the state.
Coming down heavily on Delhi Chief Minister Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister said that the so called youth manifesto of AAP was nothing more than a ‘bunch of lies’. He said that Mr. Kejriwal has failed miserably to fulfill all the promises made to people of Delhi and now he was trying to befool voters in the state. However, Mr. Badal said that wise people of state would not fell prey to the hollow promises being made by AAP leadership. The Chief Minister was accompanied by former Cabinet Minister Mr. Nirmal Singh Kahlon, Chairman Punjab State Tube Well Corporation Mr. Ravi Inder Singh Kahlon, his Joint Special Principal Secretary Mr. Kumar Amit, Deputy Commissioner Mr. Pardeep Sabharwal and Senior Superintendent of Police Mr. Diljinder Singh Dhillon.