M A I N   N E W S

Badals put up united face at Maghi Mela, target Cong
SP Sharma/TNS

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, and Sukhbir’s brother-in-law and Public Relations Minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia, on whom the CM recently had a dig, were seated together on the dais. Addressing the gathering, the party leaders targeted PCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh and the UPA-led Congress government at the Centre. SAD leaders accused the Centre of pursuing policies that were anti-Punjab and anti-farmer. They refrained from touching upon the controversial issue of Majithia’s video CD, being played by the Congress at the mela. They claimed that while the Congress had failed to check law and order in Delhi, where the recent gang rape had led to widespread outrage, its leaders were levelling concocted allegations of breakdown of law and order in Punjab. Barring political adviser to CM Kamal Sharma and BJP general secretary Manjit Singh Rai, all ministers and senior leaders of the saffron party, which is the coalition partner in the state, were conspicuous by their absence.

Senior SAD leader Ranjit Singh Brahmpura came on the party’s platform for the first time after his defeat in the last elections from the Khadoor Sahib Assembly constituency.

Agitating unemployed linemen sneaked into the venue and raised slogans, disrupting Badal’s speech for a brief period. The protesters were whisked away by the police.

The Chief Minister urged the people to rout the UPA and install an NDA government at the Centre in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

He accused the Congress of trying to rig the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee elections and asked all elected representatives to camp in the National Capital till the elections to the committee were over.

Making the most of the massive congregation, a first in the Malwa region after the Assembly elections, Badal said the SAD-BJP coalition government would take steps to fulfil its unfinished election promises.

Sukhbir said the Congress in Punjab was “leaderless and directionless”. Instead of dreaming victory in Moga, Capt Amarinder Singh should try to keep his flock together as five more Congress MLAs were planning to desert him and join the SAD, he added.

He warned people against another diesel price hike by the UPA government, which would be detrimental to the farmers of the state.

On bankruptcy charges levelled by the Congress, he said they had enough money to carry on with the ongoing development in the state. He also accused the state Congress leadership of indulging in mudslinging.

Among those who spoke were Bikramjit Singh Majithia, Kamal Sharma (BJP), SGPC president Avtar Singh, Ranjit Singh Brahampura, Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Parmjit Kaur Gulshan, Sher Singh Ghubaya, and Prem Singh Chandumajra. Cabinet ministers Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Sikandar Singh Malooka and Surjit Singh Rakhra were also present.