Rahul Gandhi to start election campaign in Punjab today
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Jan 29, 2017
Chandigarh/Majitha: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi announced on Friday that Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh would be the party's CM choice in the Assembly polls, and launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting the "corrupt" Shiromani Akali Dal, "also responsible" for the state's drug menace. He hailed the youth of Punjab who have served in the Army with selfless dedication and discipline and then added saying that now Punjab and its youth were being defamed by Congress and others - Punjab ke youth ke liye jane kaise kaise shabd ka prayog kar rahe hain, duniya me ja ja kar Punjab ke youth ko badnaam kar rahe hain.
Wary of the public mood against the state government in poll-bound Punjab, the Prime Minister, in his lengthy speech, devoted a large chunk to the ego massaging of "Punjabi pride", saying that Punjab is a land of sacrifice, courageous warriors, saints, Gurus and it has done India proud.
Disclosing this in a statement released from the party head office here today.The SAD secretary and spokesman Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema said that party Secretary General and Member Parliament S. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa will be head of this committee which will also have Prof.
"Some people are taking politics to a new low by tarnishing the image of the youth of Punjab", Modi said.
"Those promising change in Punjab overnight are misleading the people", said Mr. Gandhi, adding that the Congress would restore the spirit of tera hai (its yours) and not mera hai (it's mine), which the Badals had established over the past 10 years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public meeting at Jalandhar where the BJP-SAD alliance is locked in a bitter contest with Congress and AAP.
Modi's party, the BJP, has been lately avoiding AAP spokespersons from TV debates with some of its representatives even leaving the debate midway after learning about the presence of AAP's participation. "Congress party has no rules, it only wants to protect itself and wants to remain in power", the prime minister said. "Congress will ensure that this money returns to the people". "Now, whether people are right or whether you (Modi) are right, we will come to know in polls", he said.
Dubbing "political opportunism" as the Congress' "forte", he said that the country was witnessing the results of "politics of destruction" it had been subjected to in the last 70 years. He is a leader who always worked for Punjab.
In his speech at Majitha, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Badal family has "taken away everything from Punjab" accusing them of forcing the people of the state to pay a "Badal tax".
