Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh today said that the ensuing polls in the state would be a direct fight between the ‘development oriented’ SAD-BJP alliance and the divisive forces led by Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).Addressing the public gatherings during Sangat Darshan program in Shutrana assembly segment here today, the Chief Minister said that the wise people of the state would have to make a choice between the pro-Punjab SAD-BJP alliance and the anti-Punjab Congress and AAP. He expressed hope that people of the state would out rightly reject Congress and AAP to pave way for forming the alliance government in the state for third consecutive term. Exhorting the people to exercise their franchise carefully, Mr. Badal said that these elections were very decisive as it would make or mar the future of our coming generations.The Chief Minister, while taking the Congress party to cudgels, said that the Punjabis could never forgive the Congress party for its sins committed against Punjab. He said that Congress has irrelevantly meddled in the social, political, economic and even religious affairs of the state adding that the Congress governments at the Centre had deliberately denied the state of Punjabi speaking areas, its capital Chandigarh and even its legitimate share in river waters. Mr. Badal said that no true Punjabi could ever forgive Congress for sins like Operation Blue Star and the killing of innocents in 1984 anti-Sikh carnage.
The Chief Minister further said that Congress party was the perpetrator of a deep rooted conspiracy to deprive the state of its waters by constructing the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. Mr. Badal said that this canal was aimed at ruining the state by snatching its only available natural resources from the state. However, he said that with the historic initiative of the state government to give the land acquired for SYL back to its owners now this issue was dead for all times to come. Slamming the AAP, Mr. Badal said that this party wants to push state backward by creating anarchy.Listing the major pro-people initiatives taken by the state government, the Chief Minister said that the SAD-BJP alliance government has supplied free power to the farmers of the state at a cost of Rs 5000 crore annually to bail them out from agrarian crisis. He further said that Punjab was the only state in the country to provide Atta-Dal scheme to the weaker sections adding that it was also the only state to ensure free treatment for fatal diseases like Cancer and Hepatitis C. Mr. Badal further said that in another historic decision it has been decided that all the farmers would be provided a health insurance cover of Rs.50,000 and an insurance of Rs.5 lac in case of accidental death or incapacitation of head of family.
Later on interacting with the media persons, the Chief Minister announced that after forming the government in the state for third consecutive term the SAD-BJP alliance would formulate a separate master plan for every town to give further fillip to its development. He said that they would ensure that every district, town and assembly segment was developed on scientific lines by equipping it with ultra modern basic civic amenities.The Chief Minister said that Sangat Darshan was a flagship program of the SAD-BJP alliance, which was very helpful in ensuring on the spot redressal of the grievances of the people. He said that these programs were also helpful to the state government for adjudging the performance of the officers/ officials of the state government. Mr. Badal said that the sole aim of organizing these programs was to give impetus to the development in the state and it didn’t have any political motive.
Highlighting the significance of these programs, the Chief Minister said that Sangat Darshan was held only in Punjab and that too during alliance government’s rule. He said that no other Chief Minister of the country conducts such an extensive exercise of visiting each and every village to resolve the problems of people.Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated the gate in memory of former MLA Comrade Baldev Singh Loomba, who had been the member of state assembly for a decade. He also recalled the enormous contribution of Comrade Loomba in uplifting the weaker sections of society.The Chief Minister was accompanied by Cabinet Minister Mr. Surjit Singh Rakhra, MLA Mrs. Varinder Kaur Loomba and his Special Principal Secretary Dr. S Karunaraju.