Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has hailed the Congress victory in the Shahkot bypoll, with which the party now has two-thirds majority in the Vidhan Sabha, as vindication of the government’s people-centric policies, marking the total rejection of the negative, divisive and toxic politics of SAD and complete decimation of AAP.In a statement issued here after Congress party’s Hardev Singh Laddi defeated Shiromani Akali Dal’s Naib Singh Kohar by a landslide margin of over 38802 votes, the Chief Minister said the people of Shahkot had voted for positive change and development, which his government was committed to delivering.With two-thirds majority now in the House, his government could bring in any legislation it wanted in the interest of the people of Punjab, without the fear of a negative Opposition obstructing its passage, said Captain Amarinder.The Chief Minister said SAD’s continuing string of defeats in Punjab showed that they had completely lost favour with the people, who were not willing to forget or forgive them for the miseries and harassment to which they had been subjected during the 10-year misrule of SAD-BJP combine. Despite both Sukhbir Badal and Bikram Majithia camping in Shahkot through the entire campaign duration, the people had outright rejected the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), said he added.
Talking to some mediapersons here after the declaration of the result, the Chief Minister said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was faring badly all over the country – a clear sign of the mood of the people ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not come back to power, it will be the Congress which will form the next government in India, said Captain Amarinder said, adding that the current trends showed that the people’s enchantment with Modi was history now. He attributed this to the brazen violation of democratic principles by the BJP, which had lost all credibility in their desperation to grab power by hook or by crook.As far as the Aam Aadmi Party was concerned, it had completely lost the script and was no longer relevant in the country’s political arena, said the Chief Minister, adding that the Shahkot poll had shown that the theatrics and antics of AAP’s Sukhpal Singh Khaira had failed to convince the people of the party’s seriousness. The Chief Minister advised AAP, whose candidate won a mere 1900 votes in the bypoll, to pack its bags and leave Punjab instead of continuing to shame itself with such shocking electoral defeats.
The Chief Minister profusely thanked the people of Shahkot for not being taken in by the Opposition’s false propaganda and for continuing to repose their faith in the Congress party’s sincere commitment to their welfare. He assured the people that he would ensure the fulfilment of every single promise made by the Congress and his government.Farm debt waiver for marginal and small farmers would be completed by November, and law and order, which had shown major improvement since his government took over, would be maintained at all costs, Captain Amarinder asserted. The employment generation process was also well on track, with over 1.6 lakh youth already given jobs in the past one year, he said, vowing to ensure the implementation of his `Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ promise in letter and in spirit.Captain Amarinder thanked the Congress rank and file for scripting the victory, in the face of the no-holds barred Opposition campaign, especially Rana Gurjit, who headed the campaign, and office-in-charge Captain Sandeep Sandhu.