Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today blamed the Congress senior leadership for vitiating the peaceful atmosphere in the state out of sheer frustration being out of power and said: “Congress is habitual of stirring up religious sentiments of the people and spitting venom of hatred and communal frenzy by issuing provocative statements just to malign the sanguine image of the SAD-BJP alliance which is committed to preserve the hard earned peace and harmony in Punjab at all costs”. Addressing the media persons on the sidelines of the mammoth Vikas Rally organized by the BJP, Badal said that Congress was bent upon to disturb the peace and amity in the state by igniting the passions of the people by raising the bogey of terrorism in the state by raking up inflammatory issues just to satisfy its lust for power. He categorically said that Punjab was the only state in the country which was peaceful and these Congressmen were portraying our government for reviving militancy here for which they were sadly mistaken because the clear mandate given by the people in the last assembly elections in favour of SAD-BJP was a testimony to our firm commitment to maintain peace and harmony in the state. He recalled the unethical and immoral acts of the Congress indulging in desecration of religious places to incite communal tension in past for which the people of Punjab were now wise enough to comprehend the real motive behind it to capture power thereby creating rift between the two principal communities of Punjab. Badal said that the real face of Congress had been unmasked and therefore people have out rightly rejected it by giving the SAD-BJP alliance another chance to serve them as we fought this election exclusively on the poll plank of peace, communal harmony and development. He advised the Congress to desist from such nefarious designs as these could trigger off a situation of unrest and communal tension in the state which could be further exploited by our hostile neighbour Pakistan thereby putting the national security in peril.Asked to comment on the possibility of SAD joining third front likely to be mooted by the President of Samajwadi party Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Chief Minister out rightly rejected it, saying that SAD would always stood firmly by NDA and our alliance with BJP led NDA was based on principles & ethics and was not just a matter of convenience. On the issue of starting construction work of prestigious Shahpur Kandi Barrage, Badal said that it was the SAD-BJP government which had already completed the prestigious Shahpur Kandi project and now it was duty bound to honour of its commitment to ensure early completion of Shahpur Kandi Barrage as the global tenders have already been floated.Earlier, addressing the public gathering, the Chief Minister announced that the state government would give jobs to one member of all the oustees families of Shahpur Kandi and Ranjit Sagar Dam from the cut-off-date on which their land was acquired from time to time for this project as way back in 1973, 1985 and 1990. This decision would benefit about 500 families which had been demanding this issue to the resolved since long. The Chief Minister also agreed to the demand put forth by Sujanpur MLA and Deputy Speaker Dinesh Singh Babbu to sanction sewerage, water supply, roads and street lighting projects for Sujanpur and assured that there would be not paucity of funds till its completion. He also announced to construct a bus stand at Sujanpur and assured that he would take up the matter with Ministry of Railways to get RoB sanctioned over the busy Pathankot-Jammu railway line at the earliest. To pay a befitting tribute to the great Warrior Maharana Partap, Badal announced to erect a statue in his memory at Pathankot bus stand. He also promised the local residents that he would soon look into their demand for establishing Degree College at Pathankot & Sujanpur. He directed the Secretary Higher Education to examine this issue thoroughly in consultation with the concerned MLAs. Outlining the priorities of SAD-BJP government, Badal said that his government was committed to provide the basic civic amenities of sewerage, drinking water, roads and street lighting in all the 145 towns across the state at a cost of Rs.6000 crore within next three years. He said Punjab would become self reliant in power within one and a half year as three upcoming thermal plants at Rajpura, Talwandi Sabo and Goindwal Sahib would start generation in a phased manner. Stressing the need to develop skills amongst the youth to enable them to be employed gainfully, Badal informed that the state government had tied up with the world renowned German Company GIZ to set up four advanced multi skill development centers at a cost of Rs.250 crore in Hoshiarpur Bathinda, Ludhiana and Amritsar for imparting skill development training to one lakh youth in next four years. These youngsters would be trained in accordance with the needs of the local industry to cope up the acute shortage of skilled manpower being faced by it. Badal also pointed out that with the concerted efforts of state government, Punjab has been ranked no.1 from 14 position in education and it has also been adjudged the best state for health infrastructure in the country. The Chief Minister thanked the people of Pathankot district for winning all the three assembly seats of Pathankot, Sujanpur and Boha by BJP candidates. He assured that the SAD-BJP alliance government would leave no stone unturned to satiate their expectations in ensuring overall development and prosperity of the people in the region. In his address the National General Secretary BJP and Incharge Punjab BJP affairs Shanta Kumar said that the days of Congress led UPA government at Center were numbered as the frequent scams and scandals was the hall mark of UPA government and people were not going to spare them in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. He said earlier the UPA government had brought disrepute to the country because of the involvement of its Ministers in multi-crore scams and now the cases of their relatives were also being tumbled out gradually. Speaking on the occasion, Pathankot MLA and President Punjab State BJP Unit Mr.Ashwani Sharma expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for already accepting their long pending demand by giving a gift to them by up grading Pathankot as district. He said the day was not very far off when the people of Punjab would show the door to the congress in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections to pave a way for the installation of BJP led NDA government at Center. Earlier, in his welcome address local MLA and Deputy Speaker Dinesh Singh Babbu said that the people had reposed unflinching faith in him by electing as MLA from Sujanpur with thumping majority. He urged the Chief Minister to sanction liberal grants for the development of the Sujanpur constituency as it was the backward area and people had lot many expatiations from the present government.
Prominent amongst others who also spoke on the occasion included, Ex MP Gurdaspur Vinod Khanna, BJP leader Swaran Salaria, MLA Boha Mrs. Seema Devi, former Cabinet Minister Master Mohan Lal and District President SAD Pathankot Mr.Hardeep Singh Lamini. The rally was well attended by several senior party leaders and workers of SAD-BJP and members of other allied organizations of BJP.