BARNALA’S ACT TO FLOAT A FRONT AGAINST SAD WOULD EVER REMAIN A BLOT ON HIS POLITICAL CAREER
FATEHPUR MANNIAN (SRI MUKTSAR SAHIB) – Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today said that his nephew and former Finance Minister Mr. Manpreet Singh Badal had blemished the prestige and image of the “Badal family” by betraying his mother party, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Addressing the gathering here during the Sangat darshan of the Lambi Assembly constituency, the Chief Minister said that his family has rendered selfless services to the party so far but the PPP leader had solely left it to pursue his vested political ambition for the reasons best known to him. Mr. Badal said that notwithstanding SAD’s magnanimity to offer everything to Manpreet, the latter had joined hands with the Congress in a clandestine manner to tarnish the image of the SAD. He said that it was next to impossible to get the key portfolio of Finance as his first stint as the minister but the party chose him to be the Finance Minister but he betrayed by parting ways with SAD. He said: “Manpreet is perhaps living in fool’s paradise that he could jeopardize the electoral prospects of SAD in the coming assembly polls but he is sadly mistaken as the people of Punjab were wise enough to teach him a lesson”. The Chief Minister reiterated that any individual how mighty he may be was not above the party and none was in a position to make dent in the party. “God forbid, if I ever try to harm the party it is not at all feasible for me to do so because the people of Punjab are well conversant with the pro-people and development-oriented policies of the SAD” he added.
Slamming the former Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Surjeet Singh Barnala, the Chief Minister said that it is ironical that through his long political career Mr. Barnala had enjoyed the fruits of power due to SAD only and now at the fag end of his career he was trying to cause damage to the party. Mr. Badal however reiterated that the former governor of Tamil Nadu would not succeed in his nefarious designs as the people of the state are prudent to teach them a lesson and ultimately make these traitors of Punjab to lick the dust”. The Sanjha Morcha would meet the same fate in coming assembly elections the way the Panthic Morcha tasted a humiliating defeat in the recently concluded general elections of Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC). “Mr. Barnala’s action to float a front against his mother party SAD would not only ever remain a black scar on his long political career but is also an unpardonable act” Mr. Badal added.
Making a scathing attack on the Congress Party the Chief Minister said that it was responsible for the plight of the farmers of the nation in general and of Punjab in particular as it had blatantly neglected the steps that should have been taken to improve the lot of the distressed farmers. He blamed the Congress Party for putting farmers of the state in the deep debt trap adding that unprecedented hike in the agricultural inputs have already crushed the local peasantry. Mr. Badal accused the Congress led UPA government at the Centre for putting an additional burden of Rs 800 crore on the beleaguered farming community by recklessly hiking the cost of agricultural inputs especially the fertilizers. He said: “The single point agenda of the UPA government is to ruin the farmers of the state, despite of the fact that they had made our country self reliant in food production by dint of toil but it in return they got nothing except sheer humiliation and penury. He said that exorbitant hike in prices of fertilizers and other agricultural inputs like diesel, the Union government had broken the back of the farmers, rendering them to at the mercy of the Centre.
The Chief Minister said that SAD-BJP government in the state has done unprecedented developmental works in the state adding that in comparison to 40 years of rule of congress, the alliance had taken path-breaking initiatives to ensure all round development of the state. However he exhorted the residents of state to bring them back to power in coming elections so that the spree of development could be continued in state. “The process of development initiated by your government will be complete only if we get another chance of serving the people for which you must vote for us in the coming assembly elections” added Mr. Badal.
Earlier Mr Badal gave 65 bicycles to the girl school going students at village Bhai Ka Khera and Fullu Khera under the flagship programme of “Mai Bhago Vidya Scheme”. Similarly during the Sangat Darshan programme the Chief Minister disbursed a grant of Rs 1.19 crore for six villages falling in Lambi assembly segment. Meanwhile 25 families belonging to the Congress led by party leaders Mr Gurmej Singh of village Middha, Jatedar Kashmir Singh of village Dhabwali joined the folds of SAD in the presence of Chief Minister. Welcoming them Mr Badal said that it would give a new strength to the SAD.
Prominent amongst those present on the occasion included Special Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Mr KJS Cheema, Dayal Singh Kolyawali and Mr Bikkar Singh Channu both SGPC members and Chairman Mr Tajinder Singh.
