Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said only the Congress could be considered as an opposition for the SAD- BJP combine in the 2017 assembly elections as people would reject AAP for its failure to provide any relief to people of Delhi .Talking to media persons after flagging off the first train to Varanasi under Mukhya Mantri Tirath Yatra Scheme from Jalandhar City railway station, the Deputy Chief Minister said the traditional parties SAD and Congress would be in direct contest in assembly polls as AAP has done totally opposite to what it promised in Delhi and the party had nothing to offer for the development of Punjab. Announcing Mr. Ravinder Singh Brahmpura as the Candidate for Khadoor Sahib by poll from SAD-BJP combine, Mr. Badal dared the AAP to announce its candidate. He said sensing defeat at Khadoor Sahib, AAP was running away from the electoral field as people had already rejected them in Talwandi Sabo and Patiala by polls.
Questioning the credentials of Mr. Arvind Kejriwal , Mr. Badal said “AAP has nothing to do with the common man". He said "is it justified to spend the Rs. 532 crore on personal propaganda by Kejriwal? He also said that to please all their MLA he has appointed all of them as chairman’s or Chief Parliamentary secretaries besides enhancing their salaries to Rs. 2.50 lakh per month, even more than the Prime Minister of India. Answering a question about the Panama incident, Mr. Badal said the Punjab government had raised the issue and had been assured by the Union External affairs ministry that all possible steps would be taken on the issue. He also directed the Police department to immediately start the crackdown on illegal travel agents. He also appealed to the media houses not to publish the advertisements of illegal travel agents to safe the interests of common man. Mr. Badal also said that the inclusion of Manpreet Singh Badal in congress would not made any impact in the prospect of congress in Punjab as he was already exposed and known for shifting his stands like a pendulum.Talking about development initiatives by the Punjab Government, Mr. Badal said that Punjab is the first power surplus state across the nation besides having unmatched road and air connectivity.
Earlier flagging off the first train to Varanasi under Mukhya Mantri Tirath Darshan Yatra from Jalandhar Railway station, Mr. Badal said that this initiative of Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal would strengthen the peace, communal harmony in the state. He also interacted with the pilgrims in the train, who thanked the Punjab Government for this noble scheme.Prominent amongst present on the occasion included Cabinet Minister Ajit Singh Kohar, Sohan Singh Thandal, Bhagat Chunni Lal, CPS Pawan Kumar Tinu and K.D. Bhandari, MLA Manoranjan Kalia, District Planning committee chairman Gurcharan Singh , Chairman Dilbah Hussain, Principal secretary Transport Department, R. Vekatratnam, Deputy Commissioner K.K.Yadav, IG Arpit Shukla, DIG S.K.Verma, Police Commissioner Jalandhar Yurinder Singh Hair.