Development is duty of legislator, not favour to people: Cong candidate for Dakha bypolls

Congress candidate for assembly by-polls in Dakha Captain Sandeep Singh Sandhu on Saturday said that carrying out development is the duty of a legislator and it is no favour to the people of the constituency.

According to a statement from the party, in his maiden press conference today, after being nominated for Dakha by-election, Sandhu said, he will change the face of the constituency with the overall development, which people will see for themselves.

"All of us know that this particular area was worst hit by the problem of drugs and their total elimination will be topmost priority", he said, while disclosing that during last several years he had met dozens of people from Dakha assembly segment who had lost one or the other of their dear ones to drugs.

The Congress candidate asserted that development was the right of the people and the duty of an MLA and there was no special favour about it. "After all, what for do people elect an MLA?" he asked, while adding, an MLA should not need to tell people that he did this and that for them, rather people should know it themselves.

Attributing his mandate to the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Sandhu said, given a chance by the people of Dakha, he has a mission to accomplish.

"The Chief Minister has given me a specific mandate to work for and serve the people of Dakha and I feel honoured to take this responsibility", he said, while hoping that he will get the chance to represent Dakha in the state legislature.

Asked as how he could fulfill his development agenda since the government was claiming that it did not have money, the Congress candidate said, "it is a fact that we inherited empty coffers from Akali-BJP government, but we have managed to stabilize the situation and have taken several measures including debt relief to the farmers worth thousands of crores of rupees and other development works during last two and a half years".