The newly-appointed Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday received a rousing welcome in the holy city as he arrived to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple before taking formal charge as PPCC President on November 12 in Chandigarh. Traffic was thrown out of gear from the international airport to Golden Temple a roughly 13-km route for more than five hours. As the Congress had earlier declared that it would put up a show of strength in Chandigarh on November 12 when Amarinder takes over as PPCC President,the Amritsar visit was expected to be a subdued affair but a huge road show was organised by the local Congress leaders and supporters here. Amarinder was stopped and greeted at nearly 25 places on the way by his supporters as well as common people. He travelled in an open vehicle from the airport to Golden Temple and flowers were showered on him along the route. A large cavalcade of vehicles followed his vehicle and various leaders tried to get as close to him during the road show as possible. Hundreds of supporters accompanied Amarinder during the circumambulation of the Golden Temple. The former chief minister termed the rousing welcome he got an expression of anger against the state government. Speaking with mediapersons at party leader and ex-MLA Sawinder Singh Kathunangals residence,he denied there were any differences in the party and said his priority was to strengthen the party base in the state. He made a scathing attack on the SAD-BJP combine and said that in the 2012 assembly elections there will be a clean sweep in favour of Congress party. Amarinder said the law and order situation was deteriorating in the state and the Badal government was pushing the state into backwardness as there had been a 65 per cent increase in crime in the state in the last four years. He the present government had booked 20,000 Congress workers as part of its political vendetta. The states earning is just Rs 20,000 crore in a month while the expenditure is Rs 28,000 crore,which has pushed the state economically backward, he said and reiterated that when Congress comes to power,the free power facility would be withdrawn from rich farmers. I will not rest till the state is set on the right track, Amarinder said.
