Expressing the confidence that Punjab would be as unfortunate as Delhi in terms of governance, senior AICC leader and former union minister Anand Sharma on Sunday said the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi was the most corrupt ever and was being run from Tihar jail.Pointing out that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had failed to fulfill even a single promise made to the people of Delhi, where it is in power, Anand Sharma said the fact that Kejriwal was bringing people from outside to mange his party’s poll campaign in Punjab clearly showed that he did not trust the people of the state.Addressing a press conference here, he accused Kejriwal of coming to Punjab only to loot the state and aggravate the problems of its people, who had been suffering in a big way under the Badal regime.Anand Sharma, who is among the Congress party’s star campaigners for Punjab, said, in response to a question that naming the chief ministerial candidate was the party leadership’s prerogative and was not a cause for concern. To a question on rebel candidates, Sharma requested those who had been denied tickets in these assembly polls to withdraw from the race and strengthen the party’s hands against the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and AAP.
The Congress fight, he said in response to another question, was with different parties in different segments, depending on the issues relevant to that region.Confident of a Congress victory in these polls, the AICC leader said the party would emerge the clear winner in Malwa, Doaba and Majha regions, which had been suffering badly under the Badal misrule. The Badals, he said, had ruined the state to promote the interests of their kin and associates.He cited decline in per capita income and investment, and the rampant drug abuse in the state to underline the devastation wreaked on Punjab by the Badals. Punjab was going through a bad time, with demonetisation aggravating the woes of the people, said Sharma, adding that the ruling BJP and SAD was spending the maximum black money in these polls even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had brought in notebandi ostensibly to curb black money. Demonetisation, he said, had brought India’s prestige down in the eyes of the world and investors were now shying away from putting their money in this country.He dubbed Modi as an agent of RSS, which he said was actually running the government at the centre.Responding to a question, he made it clear that the Congress in Punjab was committed to waiver of farm loans, as listed in its manifesto.Observing that forces from across the border were also trying to derail Punjab’s peace and progress, he said the Congress alone could restore the state to its past glory.