CHANDIGARH, May 16: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh today warned the ruling Akali-BJP alliance in the state against any mischief or misadventure during the municipal corporation elections scheduled to be held next month. He said, the government will be responsible for any untoward situation and the Congress workers were prepared and ready to take on the Akali-BJP in whatever manner they wanted.
In an informal conversation with reporters after presiding over the meetings of the Screening Committee for the MC Elections and the Manifesto Committee, Capt Amarinder asserted that the Congress was in a strong and powerful position to win all the four Municipal Corporations of Ludhiana, Patiala, Jallandhar and Amritsar. He apprehended that there was a strong possibility of Akali-BJP trying to intimidate Congress workers and supporters as they know if they allow free and fair elections they are going to bite the dust.
The PCC President clarified that the Congress will not allow the repeat of 2007 MC elections when the Akalis and the BJP ran amuck and did not allow the Congress supporters to even cast their votes. He said, everything will be video-recorded and hoped that media will also play a watchful role.
Citing the instances of intimidation of the workers particularly in view of the MC elections, he said, recently a councillor in Ludhiana who is a strong candidate for the elections this time was being falsely implicated in a criminal case. He said, there was a similar case reported from Amritsar. He also appealed to the police officials to play an impartial role and remain sincere towards their duty.
More recently, he pointed out, the president of the Municipal Committee of Malerkotla, Mohd Sardar Dara was manhandled and humiliated in front of the local bodies’ minister when he had gone to collect the cheque for the committee at the invitation of the minister. He said, these were simply the signs of frustration and there was every possibility that these might be repeated during the MC elections also.
Replying to a question, he said, the winnability will be the main criterion for choosing the candidates for the MC elections. At the same time, he added, discipline and loyalty towards the party will also be an important factor. He said, the tickets will be finalised in the coming few days and the manifesto will also be released very soon.
Among those present in today’s meeting included Congress Legislative Party leader Sunil Jakhar, Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Mr Laal Singh, Rana KP, Ashwani Sekhri, Dr Malti Thapar, Amarjit Singh Samra, Chaudhary Jagjit, Prof Darbari Lal, OP Soni, Rana Gurjeet, Rajneesh Sahota, Kewal Krishen Puri, Sanjiv Bittu, Sruinder Dawer, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Gobind Khatra, Vikram Chaudhary, Ms Aruna Chuahdary, Chiranjee Lal Garg, Major Amardeep, Manoj Arora, Sukh Sarkaria, Tarlochan Sund, Raman Kumar and Karanpal Sekhon.
