Slamming the Congress party for betraying the brave people of the border areas by denying basic civic amenities to them, the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today said that the state government would soon chalk out a multi-pronged strategy to ensure the overall development of the border districts in the state. Addressing the gathering during the Sangat Darshan program of the Dera Baba Nanak assembly segment here today, the Chief Minister said that he had directed the Deputy Commissioners of all the border districts of state to conduct a comprehensive village level survey in their districts within a month for acquainting themselves with the needs of the people. Consequently, he said that after the completion of this survey, a need based plan would be formulated to ensure that the residents of these districts were provided the ultra modern facilities. Mr. Badal assured the people that the state government would leave no stone unturned develop the border districts in the state.
Exhorting the people to constitute the BJP led NDA government at the centre, the Chief Minister said that it would give a major fillip to the development of the border areas of the state, as the Punjab government would rope in more funds from NDA to develop these districts. He assured the people that once Gujarat Chief Minister Mr. Narendra Modi was elevated to the post of the Prime Minister of the country, an era of unprecedented development would be witnessed in the entire region. Reiterating that the decisive and able leadership of Mr. Modi was required for the overall development of the county and prosperity of its people, Mr. Badal said that inexperienced and politically novice Mr. Rahul Gandhi was hardly a match for him.
The Chief Minister said that a strong Modi wave was blowing across the country which would route the Congress from the Centre. He said that this wave was several times stronger than the 1977 Janta wave and even the National Congress President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and young Nehru-Gandhi scion Mr. Rahul Gandhi would be trounced in the coming general elections from their traditional bastions. Mr. Badal said that the ensuing Lok Sabha polls would decimate the Congress party from the political map of the country as the countrymen were fed up from its anti-people policies.
Lashing out at the Congress party, the Chief Minister categorically said it had always misled the people by making hollow promises and had done nothing for the welfare of the people in reality. He said that the brutal tyranny oppression against the Punjabis in general and Sikhs in particular during the successive Congress regimes at centre have even surpassed those meted out to them during the Mughal and British Raj. Mr. Badal said that due to the apathetic, regressive and discriminatory policies of the Congress governments the development of the state has been adversely affected adding that the need of the hour was that for the all round development of the state, the Congress party and its leaders must be thrown out of the power.On the occasion the Chief Minister also directed the top brass of the district administration to ensure that the officers regularly make field visits to take a stock of the problems faced by the people at ground root level for its effective solution. He also asked the officers to encourage the Panchayats for installing tube wells on their vacant land so as to enhance their income besides ensuring the optimum utilization of these lands. Mr. Badal asked the DC to monitor this scheme through regular review meetings.
Later on interacting with the media persons on the sidelines of the Sangat Darshan program, the Chief Minister said that the recent announcement of the UPA government to accord One Rank One Pension (OROP) to serving and veteran Defence personnel was nothing more than a political gimmick. He said that at the fag end of its current term the UPA government was trying to mislead the people by alluring them with such announcements whereas it was a fact that the Congress would hardly take any decision in this regard, as it was not serious on this issue. Cautioning the people, Mr. Badal said that the UPA government would make more such announcements in the coming days to lure them in wake of Lok Sabha polls but they should not get swayed away with the treacherous moves of the Union government as these decisive polls would either make or mar their future.
When asked to comment on the decision of the PPP led by Mr. Manpreet Singh Badal to be a part of the third front, the Chief Minister said that the former Finance Minister was desperately making every attempt for his political survival. However, he said that all these efforts of Mr. Manpreet Singh Badal were futile as the people of Punjab would never forgive him for stabbing the Shiromani Akali Dal, which had honored him with many coveted posts. Mr. Badal said that the wise voters of Punjab would never support any such person who had not been loyal even to his mother party.Replying to another query, the Chief Minister out rightly rejected the allegation of Lok Sabha MP from Amritsar Mr. Navjot Singh Sidhu that he was opposing his claim for the party ticket. Mr. Badal said that he would be the first person to campaign for the Lok Sabha MP, provided he was given ticket by the BJP from Amritsar.
However, he categorically said that allotting a ticket to any person was the internal matter of BJP and neither SAD nor BJP had ever interfered in this process of each other. The Chief Minister also said that the recent revelations by Mr. Rahul Gandhi have exposed the anti- Punjab and anti-Sikh stance of the Congress party. He said that this party has not only butchered the innocent Sikhs in 1984 carnage but had also given a fatal blow to the Sikh psyche by attacking Sri Harmandir Sahib. Mr. Badal said that in such dastardly acts, the Congress has even taken the support of some foreign nations thereby putting the sovereignty of the nation in deep peril. “Instead of punishing the perpetrators of the 1984 Sikh genocide, the Congress has rewarded them with high positions in the party and the government” he added. The Chief Minister was accompanied by former Cabinet Minister Mr. Sucha Singh Langah, his Special Principal Secretary Mr. KJS Cheema and Deputy Commissioner Dr. Abhinav Trikha.