Punjab Youth Akali Dal (YAD) President Bikram Singh Majithia today said the youth of the State were in the vanguard behind the campaign to form a NDA government under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi. He said the SAD-BJP alliance was set to sweep all 13 seats in Punjab with the Punjab Congress having thrown in the towel even before the battle had begun.Addressing a large number of youth workers at the party office here during the course of which he urged them to work in a disciplined and united manner to ensure victory for SAD-BJP alliance candidates in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, the YAD president said as far as the Punjab Congress was concerned none of the senior leaders wanted to contest the elections.
“We have a situation in which the Pradesh Congress President first tries to evade contesting the election by asserting he has to campaign for the party but simultaneously tries to trap other senior leaders into contesting the elections”. He said when the PCC President’s candidature was announced it was finally in the third list. “There is a general despondency in the party. Some people fell sick earlier. Some are falling sick now. I think all of them will be sick after the elections”, he added.Mr Majithia said the Congress failing was that its general was not ready to lead from the front. “Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had shied away from being identified as the party’s prime ministerial candidate. This seems to have resulted in a ripple effect with party leaders in the State refusing to contest the elections fearing a complete rout”.
The YAD President said the YAD had played a stellar role in the last assembly elections and was instrumental in the SAD-BJP victory. He said following the re-election of the SAD-BJP government in March 2012 the YAD had played a positive role be it working for rehabilitation of people struck by natural disasters, helping the handicapped or deserving students or even doing its best for social causes like leading the afforestation movement in Punjab. “All this has resulted in the emergence of a youth leadership with many of them including Manjit Singh Jalalusma, Inderjit Bolaria and Manpreet Ayali winning the last elections. Many more youth candidates have been victorious in the Block Samiti and Zila Parishad elections”.
Senior YAD leaders including Parambans Singh Romana, Kanwarjit Singh Barkandi, Pawanpreet Singh Badal and Ravipreet Singh Sidhu also spoke on the occasion and exhorted the youth to save the country by ushering in a NDA government at the centre. They also urged the YAD rank and file to fan out in the field immediately and work for the success of SAD-BJP candidates.Later while talking to newsmen, Mr Majithia said senior BJP leader Arun Jaitely would emerge as Amritsar’s voice in parliament. He said there were many unresolved issues of the border belt including issue of compensation for border farmers, opening of the border with Pakistan and a special industrial package for the Majha region. “We are confident that Mr Jaitely would be successful in making these demands a reality”, he said adding Punjab would also benefit with Mr Jaitely’s presence in parliament.