Modi has no right to seek votes in Punjab: Amarinder Singh

Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday said that Modi has no right to seek votes in Punjab as the central government has done nothing for the state.

"Modi has no moral right to ask for votes in Punjab because he has done absolutely nothing for the state. He left the people to fend for themselves despite acute problems faced by them," Singh said.

Speaking at a rally in support of Congress candidate Preneet Kaur in Pratap Nagar, the CM added, "The Modi government did nothing for Punjab or its people in the last two years since the Congress government took over in the state, despite repeated requests."

Hitting out at the PM, Singh said: "Not only has the state gone ahead with its promised farm loan waiver scheme but had expanded the primary health insurance cover to 42 lakh families instead of the mere 14.96 lakh SECC families covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana."

"The nation has seen how Modi has ruled in the past five years, destroying every institution and ruining all sections of the society with his ill-conceived policies, such as demonetisation and GST," he said.

Reiterating the poll promises made by the Congress before the Assembly polls, Singh said: "Our government will fill up all the 1.2 lakh government vacancies that the Akalis had failed to fill. Industry and investment are being revived and the stage is set for disbursement of the promised smartphones to youth."

Punjab, where 13 parliamentary seats are at stake, will go to polls in the seventh phase on May 19. The counting will take place on May 23.