Tanda
(Hoshiarpur), January 5
Harping on peace and development, the Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal chief, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, today called Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee a “saviour”, who had solved many ills of Punjab and Punjabis.
He indicated that the chances of unity between his camp and that of Mr Tohra were receding. Mr Badal announced that the SAD-BJP combine would make a law making it mandatory for all legislators to declare their assets.
Mr Badal who formally kicked off the SAD-BJP’s poll campaign with an impressive rally organised by Punjab Minister Balbir Singh Miani from the Grain Market here today, spared no effort in projecting Mr Vajpayee as hero. He said it was the cordial relations between the SAD and BJP which had led to the initiation and completion of a number of development projects in the state, which had been “ignored” by the Congress all through its 45-year “misrule”
Mr Badal said it was due to efforts of Mr Vajpayee that Punjabis were no longer seen as terrorists. Also, it was due to the Prime Minister’s generosity that even wet wheat of Punjabi farmers was lifted without any hassles and at an enhanced price. “When the Commission on Prices of Agricultural Products decided to lower the price of wheat by Rs 70 per quintal, I and Chautala went to Vajpayee for enhancement of the price. Mr Vajpayee increased the price by Rs 30 per quintal.”
Had Mr Vajpayee not been there, the International Airport would not have been declared and there was little possibility of waiver of the Rs-8400 crore loan, which the state owed to the centre on account of expenditure on security forces and crushing of terrorism in the state. He alleged that militancy in the state was a product of the Congress.
When asked whether he still had hopes about unity between his faction and that led by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Mr. Badal retorted, “What unity? Voters don’t care about unity. They see the performance and I can bet no previous government can match us on this account.”
He said he had visited the border villages and every type of assistance would be provided to those who had migrated from the border areas for fear of war between India and Pakistan.
He said the party manifesto would be released within 10 days and long-standing demands of Punjab like the
transfer of Chandigarh and Punjabi-speaking areas to Punjab and issue of river waters would form a part of it.
Senior BJP leader and Punjab Minister Balramji Dass Tandon also said militancy in the state was the creation of the Congress and it was the SAD-BJP combine which had eliminated the menace from the face of the state and had countered Pakistan’s nefarious designs by strengthening the government’s intelligence network.
