Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday warned that the state could turn into another Kashmir under fascist forces like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with Pakistan waiting for just such an opportunity to revive extremism in Punjab.Addressing massive public rallies in Malout and Muktsar, Captain Amarinder, while dismissing SAD’s Badals and AAP’s Arvind Singh as `meesne gappus and thugs’ (cunning liars and thieves), said the nexus between the Naxals and the Khalistanis in AAP would bring back the dark days of terrorism in Punjab, which lost more than 35,000 lives to extremist violence earlier.The rise of communal forces under the Badals, and now the extremist threat posed by Kejriwal to Punjab needs to be countered before it can destroy the secular fabric of the state, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief cautioned.Warning the people against being taken in by the lies of `chitti topi wale’ Kejriwal and the corrupt Badal, Captain Amarinder said the AAP leader had exposed his nefarious designs on Punjab after plunging Delhi into a mega mess, while Parkash Singh Badal had even lied about his age, pretending to be in his early 80s though he was actually a classmate of Muktsar Congress candidate Karan Kaur Brar’s father, who would have been 94 had he been alive.
Referring to the increasing incidents of sacrilege in the state, Captain Amarinder said anyone found guilty, including Badal himself, would be thrown behind bars and given exemplary punishment. Asserting that he had no sympathies for anyone resorting to divisive religious politics for their personal gains, the Congress chief ministerial candidate said he would get the Bargadi and other cases of religious desecration investigated and will ensure that the guilty are brought to book.Lambasting the Badals and their cronies for plunging Punjab into ruin, Captain Amarinder vowed to throw them, and Sukhbir’s OSDs and henchmen, including Dyal Singh Kolianwal (SGPC member), Satinderjee Singh Mantta and Tejinder Singh Middhukhera, into jail for their crimes against the people of Punjab. He also promised to bring to book Kanwarjit Singh Rozy Barkandi, the SAD candidate from Muktsar who is said to run a sand mafia at Badal’s behest.The Badals and their ministers and associates had been looting the state left, right and centre, said the PPCC chief, pointing out that while one of the Badals one was busy building hotels, the other was wasting public money on sangat darshans, and their `lambu’ associate was selling drugs and chitta at the cost of the state’s development and the lives of its people.
Calling upon the people to be cautious about whom they vote in this election, which was his last but would decide their future, Captain Amarinder expressed concern about the collapse of agriculture and farmer suicides, as well as the flight of industry from the state.Employment and industrial revival would be taken up on priority, promised Captain Amarinder, adding that a master plan would be put in place for comprehensive and inclusive development of Punjab.Recalling that both agriculture and industry were prospering under his earlier tenure, from 2002 to 2007, Captain Amarinder said farmers were getting timely payments and procurement, and his government had also brought BT cotton to the region, leading to multifold increase in the farmers’ produce. Agriculture Minister Tota Singh’s fake seeds and fertilizers had destroyed all of it, said the PPCC chief, promising greater incentives to farmers on alternative crops, apart from loan waiver and other measures to bring agriculture in Punjab back on the rails.He appealed to the people to bring the Congress to power with a 2/3rd majority to enable him to fulfill all his promises to them, and asked them to support the party candidates Ajaib Singh Bhatti from Malout and Brar from Muktsar.