Sukhbir’s charm drive in Manpreet turf

The Sangat Darshan that covered 17 villages of Gidderbaha was dedicated to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal who turned 85 on Wednesday. Choosing Gidderbaha for the occasion pointed towards Sukhbir’s diplomatic move to weaken the support base of Manpreet in his own stronghold,as the former Akali heavyweight is trying to build a Pan-Punjab image for himself through his ‘Jago Punjab Yatra’. Sukhbir reached Kot Bhai in a huge cavalcade of vehicles. During his speech,in an ostensible reference to Manpreet and his aides,Sukhbir said: “Instead of handing over all powers to PA and OSD coterie,I believe in equipping (party) workers with the power. I give power to the (party) workers.”

Sukhbir said he was “not allowed” to enter Gidderbaha constituency in the last 15 years. “But since I have come now,it will be your rule,” he told the gathering.

In another salvo against Manpreet,the deputy CM said he (Sukhbir) had learnt that false cases had been registered in the constituency against a number of people. “I have asked the police to look into those so that innocent people are not subjected to any harassment,” Sukhbir added.

He also announced to upgrade the Kot Bhai stadium and assured that left-out beneficiaries of Atta-Dal ,pension and Shagun schemes would be identified.

Sukhbir said he felt more honoured by being the president of SAD than being the deputy chief minister. Sukhbir said the standoff with Manpreet was not due to any property or business dispute,but had its root in ideological differences. Advising Manpreet that one should practise what one says,Sukhbir said it was strange that his “younger brother” did not mind enjoying the Rs 19 lakh subsidy for himself and at the same time wanted to deny this to the poor people of the state.

He inaugurated a fully air-conditioned Suwidha Centre worth Rs 30 lakh and laid the foundation stone of two roads,besides disbursing grants worth Rs 1.5 crore for various development work in 17 villages.

Manpreet Badal’s former OSD Charanjit Singh,however,termed Sukhbir’s meeting a “flop show”,claiming that despite making provisions for buses to ferry people from outside,there was not much turnout. He also claimed that projects announced by him had already been sanctioned during the tenure of Manpreet Badal as finance minister.

Sidelights
Dig at Capt: The deputy CM also hit out at Capt Amarinder Singh,saying after taking over as PPCC chief,he had nothing to say against the ruling government. “The only thing Amarinder could say was that 20,000 Congress workers were booked during this regime. This is not right. There are not even 20,000 Congress workers in the state.

On estranged cousin: Narrating the sequence of events that led to the sacking of Manpreet as FM,he told the gathering that his father Parkash Singh Badal had gone out of the way to give free hand to Manpreet and gave him the liberty to draft the press release giving “clean chit” to him. “Despite that,Manpreet went ahead with a press conference flaunting that self-drafted press release as a corroborative statement of the CM to support him,” Sukhbir said.

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