The overwhelming wave in favour of the Congress in Punjab continued to strengthen, with senior Akali and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders on Wednesday joining the Punjab Congress fold to a warm welcome from party president Captain Amarinder Singh.The move has hit both the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and AAP badly since all three new Congress joinees were senior leaders in the respective parties and made significant contributions to their growth in Punjab.Amrik Aliwal of SAD, as well as Mahesh Gupta and Gurbans Singh Punia of AAP, said they were completely disillusioned with their respective parties, which were not interested in the welfare of Punjab but were merely befooling the people of the state with their false promises and tall claims. Only the Punjab Congress, led by Captain Amarinder Singh, could lead Punjab back on the path of development and progress, they said, extending their full and unconditional support to the party president.
Amrik Singh Aliwal, vice president of SAD and former Ludhiana MP, expressed his angst at the anti-democratic functioning of the Badals-led party and said the Badals had only personal agenda and he was feeling suffocated under their leadership. Having spent 35 years in the Akali Dal, Amrik said he had witnessed first hand the protection given by the Badals to criminals and miscreants, and noted that not a single case had ever been fairly investigated under the Akali rule.The Punjab Agro Industries Corporation chairman said the Badals were running the party like their personal fiefdom, in a completely undemocratic manner, with no concern for the people of the state, who were struggling to make both ends meet. He said he had always been impressed with Captain Amarinder’s stand on Punjab and Punjabiyat, and had proven himself to be a man of his word, who always delivers on his promises.Captain Amarinder said Amrik, who is also a former Youth Akali Dal president, was clearly disillusioned with the SAD and his decision to quit the party and join the Congress indicated the deep rot in the Akali Dal under the Badal leadership.
Mahesh Gupta, an AAP ticket aspirant from Jalandhar North and head of the Agrasen Society, Jalandhar, also joined the Punjab Congress in Captain Amarinder Singh’s presence, blaming the high levels of corruption and greed of the AAP leadership, including Arvind Kejriwal, for his decision.Mahesh said he had joined AAP in the hope of a positive and meaningful change for his community, to which Kejriwal also belongs, but soon found out that there was no match between what the party says and what it does.Mahesh was pivotal in organizing three AAP Agrasen Sabhas in Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Fategarh Sahib, evoking excellent response from the community, and brings to the Congress his managerial prowess.Gurbans Singh Punia, the AAP zone in-charge for Patiala, Ludhiana and Jalandhar and the AAP state finance committee member since 2014, said the party was not only ignoring volunteers but was also selling and cancelling tickets against money. He accused senior AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak of selling tickets for crores of rupees.Welcoming the AAP leaders into the party fold, Captain Amarinder said both Mahesh and Gurbans would be valuable assets to the Congress.