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Journalism of Courage
Urging people not to do any “experiment” in the Punjab Assembly polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Monday said that maintaining peace and brotherhood was most important for the state and only his party was capable of doing that.
“Punjab’s peace is the most important thing. Remember, this is not a laboratory…not a chemistry lab to carry out an experiment…because if peace goes and if hatred starts to spread here, it will not only be Punjab’s, but nation’s loss…You understand the Congress party. It can take everyone along and maintain peace. We have experience in doing so. This is not the time to experiment,” said Gandhi, who addressed poll rallies in Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur.
He said Punjab has made a “garib (poor) Charanjit Singh Channi” the chief minister and a CM face and “being a poor person, he can understand the problems of poor in better way”.
Gandhi said he was was the first person when years back he had said that Punjab was facing a big problem of drugs. “At that time, they (BJP) mocked me and said that I was exaggerating because then the were ruling the state with their friends (SAD). Now when there is our government in the state, Union Home Minister Amit Shah talks about drug problem and says his party will make Punjab ‘drug free’,” he said.
Apparently referring to the registration of NDPS case against Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia, Gandhi said, “I know that drug is a major problem in the state but we have taken action against your (BJP’s) friends and we will take more action to wipe out the menace”.
Attacking the BJP-led central government over the now repealed agri laws, Gandhi said, “Our government is not a government of two-three corporates. If our government was of two to three billionaires, then in Punjab, the Congress party would not have stood against farm laws. Our government is pro-farmer which is why we stood with farmers and tried to stop these agri laws in Parliament.”
The Congress leader also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over unemployment, saying he does not talk about it and black money in his election speeches. He also targeted the Centre over demonetisation and goods and services tax, alleging that only two-three billionaires benefited from it.
Gandhi also recalled how the BJP had mocked him when he had cautioned how adversely Covid would impact India. He said the people have been told a “lie” on Covid deaths and the actually number of fatalities is five to seven times more than what has been officially announced.
Attacking the AAP over its claims of setting up mohalla clinics in New Delhi, Gandhi said everyone saw the state of affairs during the second wave of Covid-19. “If they (AAP) changed Delhi’s picture, why Congress workers had to provide oxygen cylinders to people during the second wave of Covid. The AAP government in Delhi completely failed during Covid,” he said.
He said Hoshiarpur is an agricultural centre and the Congress government will set up farm machinery cluster and food park there so that farmers can bring their tomato, potato, chillies to such clusters and sell directly.
Gandhi said that the Congress government will break the three monopolies including transport, sand mining, and cable network.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who was scheduled to attend the Hoshiarpur rally, was unable to do so. He later said that his chopper was not allowed to fly because of the no-fly zone declared in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Punjab visit.
In his address, Punjab Congress president Sidhu said, “There were two cancers in Punjab, one Capt Amarinder Singh who was thrown out (as CM by Congress). And second cancer, I will assure you that Punjab’s mafia will be eliminated from Punjab’s map when the party returns to power.”
