Ahead of Punjab Assembly elections, former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said several sitting and former MLAs from the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party and Shiromani Akali Dal shall be joining his party – the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC), soon.
Addressing a meeting of party workers and office bearers, after inducting several leaders including a former MP and some ex-legislators into the party here, Capt. Amarinder said, “We will soon be holding a similar function but at a large scale as several leaders will be joining us.”
Pointed out that Punjab was under a massive debt of about ₹5 lakh crore, which was about 70% of the total GDP of the State, Capt. Amarinder said he wondered as from where the Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was going to get the money for his populist announcements. “Probably he knows that Congress is not going to come back and let the next Government bear the brunt.”
On other political parties in the State, Capt. Amarinder said, “Congress party was in a state of civil war with the Chief Minister and the Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu pulling in different directions with workers and leaders feeling confused and clueless what to do and whom to follow.”
The AAP, he said, was down in the dumps, with half of their legislators having deserted the party, and others ready to leave. The Shiromani Akali Dal, he said, was yet to find their feet again after being punished by people as it was during their tenure that the sacrilege incidents took place in 2015 and they took no action.
Elaborating about his party’s plan of action, he said, the PLC will go for seat adjustment with the BJP. He said, the BJP was also in consultation with Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt). He said he was hopeful that the seat adjustment will be worked out soon and the new Government will watch and safeguard the interests of the State at all costs.
Referring to the threat from the neighbouring country, Capt Amarinder said, India did not want enmity with any country. He said he doesn’t have anything personal against the people of Pakistan, but he has problems with Pakistan Government and its military establishment which is sponsoring terror and killing our soldiers on borders. He said that 83 soldiers from Punjab were killed during last five years.
“Imagine the total number of casualties from across the country,” he said, adding, under such circumstances no true Indian can claim that Imran Khan and Pakistan military chief Gen Qamar Bajwa are his friends. “If you are friends with such people, which you proudly claim, you are not well wisher of the country”, he said, while referring Navjot Singh Sidhu’s public pronouncements claiming Imran Khan to be his friend.
