If Punjab’s youth were being destroyed by Chitta, it was because of the SAD-BJP-Priyanka
KS Diwan/ royalpatiala.in/ Bathinda
AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, and their allies the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab, with a clarion call to the people to give a crushing defeat to these parties in the Lok Sabha polls, in the interest of the future of their state, their nation and their children.
Lambasting the Akalis, allies of Modi’s BJP, for suppressing and victimising the people of Punjab and destroying generations, Priyanka said they had handed over the state to the drugs, liquor, sand and transport mafia during their 10-year-rule. If Punjab’s youth were being destroyed by Chitta, it was because of the BJP and the Akalis, said the Congress general secretary, pointing out that when Rahul Gandhi had raised the drugs issue before the Assembly elections, they had ridiculed him, only to be exposed later.
Addressing her first public rally in Bathinda, in support of Congress candidate Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Priyanka asked the people to teach a befitting lesson to both, the BJP and the SAD, for the victimisation and harassment meted out to them. She appealed to the people to vote for Raja Warring, a progressive and honest candidate, to strengthen his hands in order to install the Congress again at the Centre.
Priyanka was accompanied by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who appealed to the people to strengthen the Congress hands with their vote in this battle for the future of India and to teach arrogant Harsimrat, the SAD candidate from Bathinda, a lesson for the Akali misdeeds.
Taking a dig at Modi’s `radars in clouds’ remark, she said the prime minister’s truth had come on the people’s radar, and it was time for him to put his own radar on his unfulfilled promises.
Congress leader said that as the wife of a Punjabi, she felt at home in Punjab and among its people. Priyanka appreciated the valour of Punjabis and their ability to remain happy in all circumstances.
Describing Punjab as the land of the Gurus, Priyanka said those who destroyed Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji were destroying the soul of Punjab – a sin that the Akalis had committed. While Baba Nanak always said `tera tera’, for the BJP and SAD, it had always been a case of `mera mera’, she said, recalling that when Punjab was fighting for India’s freedom, the RSS was prostrating themselves before the British to save their own lives.
Pinning Modi’s blatant lies and falsehoods, Priyanka said hearing him, one would think the only development in this country had taken place in the last five years. Bathinda, she pointed out, was the biggest example of the industrial and agricultural development that had taken place before the Modi government came to power. Not only was Bathinda a large industrial centre, it was one of the biggest cotton and wheat markets with a well-developed dairy sector and an army cantonment, all of which came up during 70 years before Modi, she added.
As many as 12000 aggrieved debt-ridden farmers had committed suicide during the Modi rule and farmers were getting neither proper remuneration for their crops nor requisite seeds and other facilities, Priyanka observed, adding that the prime minister refused to spare even 5 minutes to listen to the woes of the farmers who came from all over the country to Delhi to protest.The prime minister had the time to travel half the world, from hugging Obama in US to playing drums in Japan and eating Briyani in Pakistan, but did not have any to meet a single person in his own constituency in these five years, she added.
