Akalis have unleasehd malicious propaganda: CM

Launching a frontal attack on the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh today appealed the people of Punjab not to be misled by the false and malicious propaganda of former Chief Minster and SAD President Parkash Singh Badal who was scared of Congress party's bright prospects in the forthcoming Assembly elections on the basis of superb performance during its tenure and asked the people to draw a comparison between the performance of SAD and Congress Party to ascertain themselves who was their real well wisher.

Addressing a mammoth Vikas Rally held here at the Stadium of Government College, Capt. Singh lambasted Badal and his son SAD General Secretary Sukhbir Badal who had no political agenda except to criticize the Government for nothing just to woo the voters. He said that Mr.Badal was living in fool's paradise as he was time and again claiming in the public rallies that Akalis were coming to the power and asked him to abstain from such day dreaming. He vehemently said that Badal was accountable for the corruption in the petty matters like postings and transfers during his regime and once the Apex Court vacated the stay then his case would come up for trial in the lower Court and would be heard on day-to-day basis as per the directions of the Punjab & Haryana High Court. "Person like Badal who arm twisted the hapless and poor would not be even pardon in the court of Almighty", asserted Capt. Singh.

"Had Badal sincere to the core he would have taken some initiatives to bring overall development and prosperity in the State because he remained the Chief Minister of the State for three terms. It is crystal clear, for Badal, his family interest is far more important than the welfare of the State and its people" said the Chief Minister. He asked the Akalis what tangible they had done for the welfare of farmers, industrialists, dalits, youth and a common man and the probable answer would be big zero. On the contrary our Government took bold initiatives to revive the sagging economy that we inherited from the Akalis, introduced diversification in agriculture and garnered investment worth Rs.63000 crore in 161 mega projects thereby generating employment potential of 12 lakh persons. Besides our Government also passed a legislation to protect the river waters thereby saving 16 lakh farming families and 9 lakh acres of land from becoming barren. On the other hand, Akalis passed Sri Anandpur Sahib Resolution way back in 1973 and launched morchas to perpetrate terrorism in the State and exploited the religious sentiments of the youth to their own advantage. Capt. Singh said that in democracy we should respect the Constitution and our party had demonstrated this spirit through passing legislation on river waters in the Vidhan Sabha which Akalis could never think of because of their myopic approach to meet their vested ends.

"It should be amply clear to everyone that Akalis are apprehensive of erosion of their sizeable vote bank of farmers for whom they claim themselves as their 'Messiahs' due to the unprecedented farmer-friendly initiatives taken by his Government in terms of ensuring hassle free and smooth procurement of nine crops and the grant of bonus of Rs.50 per quintal on wheat recently announced by Prime Minster Dr.Manmohan Singh", said Capt. Singh. He further said that the vision of the State Government was to promote the diversification of agriculture for the welfare of Punjabi farmer and to provide him economic stability as he was in doll drums due to the marginal returns from the traditional farming of wheat paddy rotation and the venture of RIL was also a positive step in this direction. "RIL has planned to set up 52 rural hubs in the state over next 3 to 5 years at an investment of Rs.6000 crore to purchase the produce from the farmers to promote diversification besides it would also provide them with inputs such as quality seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, weedicides as well as hi-tech facilities", said the Chief Minister. He said that 33% of cultivable land in Punjab would be brought under the plantation of 20 million plants of oranges and maltas by 2010 and the State Government has tied up with Tropicana the world renowned juice company to set up its regional strategic reserve in Punjab.

Reverberating with high morale and upbeat mood, Capt. Singh asked the people not to be emotionally swayed by the baseless and politically motivated speeches of the Akalis who were now completely dejected and had been exposed fully before the masses on account of nepotism and corruption the way in which they looted the public exchequer mercilessly. He even charged Akalis for misappropriating the gurdwara offering (guru ki golak) for their ulterior motives.

Showing deep concern over the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities like Atta and Dal, Capt. Singh said that he had directed the Food & Supplies Ministers Avtar Henry to ensure smooth supply of these commodities to the persons living below the poverty line through Public Distribution System at the minimum price. He also referred to the steps taken by the Government to augment the power supply in the State from 5600 MW to 7200 MW in the next few years. He said that 25% of the budgetary allocation had been earmarked for the power generation in the annual budget and this would continue till the state became self reliant in power supply.

Speaking on the occasion, PPCC President Shamsher Singh Dullo said that Congress party had already implemented the 61 out of 63 poll promises made in its manifesto during the last assembly elections and the two promises including the abolition of octroi and the grant of time scale of 4-9-14 to government employees would also be implemented with in a month. He urged Capt. Singh to set up a special industrial zone in the border belt of Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Ferozepur to provide employment avenues to the unemployed youth because the people of the area had faced the brunt of Indo-Pak war of 1965 and 1971 besides passing through the dark period of terrorism.

Earlier, the Chief Minister laid two foundation stones of Rs.30 crore District Administrative Complex over a land of 11 acres and 100% safe drinking water and sewerage facility at a cost of Rs.13 crore.

In his welcome address local MLA Khushhal Bahl highlighted the problems of the Gurdaspur city and demanded adequate funds for the up-gradation of the existing infrastructure because most of the public buildings were dilapidated as the city dates back to 1857.

Prominent amongst others who spoke on the occasion included Local Government Minister Ch.Jagjit Singh, PWD (B&R) Minister Partap Singh Bajwa, Urban & Housing Minister Raghunath Sahay Puri. The function was attended by Ashwani Sekhri and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa (both Parliamentary Secrtaries), Smt.Aruna Chaudhry, Mr.Rumal Chand, Mr.Ashok Sharma and Harpartap Singh Ajnala (all MLAs) and President DCC Gurbachan Singh Babehali, besides many party leaders and workers.