M A I N   N E W S

No time to settle scores, says Capt
Tribune News Service

Amarinderspeak The Congress government will usher in a paradigm shift There is no time for settling vendetta. Our focus ought to be to get Punjab moving Subsidies are required and there is no question of withdrawing them When I stepped into politics, Sukhbir was in kindergarten

New Delhi, October 30
Pointing out that Punjab is broke, newly appointed state Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh accused the Badals of pushing Punjab to the brink. Stating that the state government now borrows Rs 8,000 crore every year merely to survive and pay salary and interest, he held out the promise that a Congress government would usher in a paradigm shift.

He was speaking to The Tribune in an exclusive interview with Editor-in-Chief Raj Chengappa (See Opinions page for the complete interview).

“There is no reason why the Congress should not win the election in Punjab and return to power in 2012,” he said.

Brimming with confidence, the PPCC president said he does not really care whether Sukhbir Singh Badal was elevated as the Chief Minister or not. Asserting that to him both of them were the same, he had some harsh words to say for Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Saying that Badal Senior was “40 years behind his time”, Captain stated that he did not believe that the present Punjab CM could formulate policies to take Punjab forward.

He, however, came close to offering an olive branch to his sworn political rivals. “There is no time for settling vendetta. Our focus ought to be to get Punjab moving... we have to forget everything and just get on to the job of good governance and take Punjab out of the mess,” he declared.

Admitting that there was a serious crisis in the state, he pointed out that there were over 4 million young people in Punjab who were looking for gainful employment. There were 1.3 million families which live below the poverty line. Half of them, he acknowledged, were the poorest of the poor.

Categorically stating that subsidies were required and there was no question of withdrawing them, the former Chief Minister, however, added that there “was no justification for richer people like Parkash Singh Badal, who owned thousands of acres of land, to receive agricultural subsidies”.

Dismissing Manpreet and Sukhbir Singh Badal as young politicians who wanted to run before learning to walk, Captain pointed out that he had been in politics for 41 long years, commenting, “When I stepped into politics, Sukhbir was in the kindergarten.”

“When the Congress returns to power, we will honour everything that the Badal government has done... the witch hunting has to stop if we want development in the state,” said the PPCC chief while admitting that continuity was the key to investment. “We want industry and the industry must know that there is continuity,” he added.

The SAD-BJP alliance has done nothing for the state’s development, said Amarinder Singh. “It is not the Badal family but the common man of Punjab who has suffered from bad governance. That is why I say we have to have a major shift.”