Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, August 20: The Punjab Congress President Mr Partap Singh Bajwa today ridiculed the Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal for pleading with the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi for a special financial package to rescue the state from the deepening crisis while he had earlier missed the bus when Dr Manmohan Singh was too liberal and never denied request for the uplift of his native state.
Mr Bajwa also questioned Mr Badal to tell the people of Punjab what is the plight of 15000 Sikh farmers in the state of Gujarat whose land is being taken away by the Gujarat government. What has happened to the promise of Sh Modi to take back the SLP filed in the supreme court against those Gujarat Sikh Farmers.
“You now must have realized the difference between Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr Modi who is anti-minorities as even your request for appointment is not being honoured, what to talk of any special package for the state on the pattern of Bihar where Assembly election is to be held this year. You had put your stakes on the wrong person as you were the first to organize his rally in Punjab when Mr Modi was announced as the prime ministerial candidate”, he told Mr Badal.
The PPCC chief maintained that the problem with Mr Badal was that despite the UPA government conceding all his requests, he continued to hammer the propaganda of discrimination by the Congress. “It is only now that he might have realized the true meaning of discrimination”, he added.
He reminded Mr Badal that it was the UPA government that had initiated the moves to bail out Punjab, Kerala and West Bengal which were the three most stressed states. However, the move was scuttled by Mr Badal himself for the reasons which are now known to all and which had nothing to do with the state itself but rooted in the power politics within the extended Badal family.
He wanted to know from Mr Badal as to why the BJP leadership in the state is not accompanying him to Delhi to press the Prime Minister to announce special package for the state. He said Mr Badal should remain satisfied with the ministerial berth given to his family member and stop shedding crocodile tears for Punjab as he lacked moral courage to confront the Modi government on any issue.
He said the anti-minority stance of Mr Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the mother organisation of the BJP, was too well known and as such, nothing could be expected from this government as has been the record so far.
He also lashed out at the Deputy Chief Minister Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal saying he should question leaders like the Union Home Minister Mr Rajnath Singh on the drug menace in the state and in case he was suffering from selective amnesia, he should tell his staff to pull out the speeches made by the BJP leaders at Anandpur Sahib on this issue.
