I accept mandate of people of Punjab with humility. But I will not be speaking the truth if I dont say that the results have disappointed us. Akali sold a hollow development agenda and people have bought it, Peoples Party of Punjab (PPP) president Manpreet Singh Badal said while addressing the media a day after he not only lost both the seats he contested but his party also failed to win a single seat in the Assembly polls. Citing lack of funds as the most crucial reason for the partys poor show,Manpreet said they failed to match the money power of the two established parties. They spent Rs 5 crore per seat. We could not even spend Election Commissions ceiling of Rs 16 lakh. We also could not afford the massive packages demanded by the media, he added. He also attributed the lack of organisational structure at the grassroots level and not having credible candidates in many seats as reasons behind the debacle. Many of our candidates were weak,inexperienced and rank-newcomers. Add to this the fact that we had no money and organisational structure, he said. Manpreet claimed he was more disappointment over the fact that the people of Punjab had ignored main issues confronting the state. The compliance of this years annual plan is less than 30 per cent,the revenue deficit in next budget will grow to Rs 5,000 crore and growth in all sectors,agriculture,industry and services is stagnant. I sincerely hope Akalis give better governance this time round and address these issues than starting to plan how to win the next polls, he said. On his partys performance,he said with 5.17 per cent vote share,they have done well as a party which is yet to celebrate its first birthday. With just seven per cent vote share,the BJP has got 12 seats. Our vote share is higher than a national party like BSP. We are not despondent but will build on this vote share, said Manpreet. The PPP,he added,is not ready to bow out. Though we have not been able to muster the numbers,we will offer a formidable opposition by contesting all polls from panchayat to municipal councils. Our big target now is the 2014 parliamentary polls. We will not give up till we change the rules of the game and our agenda and ideology will succeed, said Manpreet.
