Badal slams Amrinder, Kejriwal on public welfare issues

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Press Trust of India Vehra (Amritsar)
Last Updated : Jun 29 2016 | 9:48 PM IST
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said a "pro-people" exercise like Sangat Darshan was not every chief minister's "cup of tea", branding AAP's Arvind Kejriwal and state Congress chief Amarinder Singh as "complete misfits" for such programmes.
Addressing public gatherings in Mohale, Vehra, Bhiddi Aulakh Khurd and other villages during his Sangat Darshan programme in Rajasansi Assembly segment here, he said, neither Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal nor former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder had "bothered about public welfare" when they were voted to power.
He claimed there was no chief minister in the country who visited every village in the state in scorching heat or spine-chilling cold, adding he undertakes this exercise to ensure well being of every strata of the society.
Badal said Kejriwal too had tried his luck in conducting his Janta Darbar events in Delhi on the lines of Sangat Darshan. However, it proved to be a "total disaster" as the Delhi Chief Minister was not able to undertake the exercise even for a single day, he claimed.
"Ultimately, Kejriwal ran away from his words and never conducted the exercise," he added.
Badal also hit out at Amarinder claiming he had "never bothered" to meet the people during his tenure as chief minister, adding that now, "in the false hope" of becoming chief minister again after the 2017 Assembly polls, he has announced to hold 'darbars' in every constituency.
He alleged that in these "imperial darbars", Amarinder only indulges in "self glorification and bashing of political rivals" without even thinking about public welfare.
He termed it a "futile exercise" as the senior Congress leader "neither has the will nor interest" to undertake public welfare activities.
"Captain (Amarinder) is a king who wants to attain power for enjoying rather than serving the people," said Badal, asking the people if they have seen Amritsar MP Amarinder after the 2014 general elections.
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Badal claimed it was on record that the Congress had
planned and executed SYL canal to rob waters of the state.
Likewise, he said it was equally true that Amarinder had welcomed then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to lay foundation "of this sorrow" of Punjab.
"People are well aware of track record of Congress leaders and they would never forgive them for this heinous crime," he added.
The chief minister said AAP and Congress were two faces of same coin and both of them don't have any sympathy with Punjab or Punjabis.
He said that both the parties just want to plunder the wealth of state for their vested political interests.
Quipping on Kejriwal, Badal said the AAP chief was totally "ignorant" about history, topography and culture of state.
He said that though Kejriwal was dreaming to assume power in state but the AAP supremo was not even aware of location of Tapa and Barnala.
Badal cautioned that if such ignorant people assume power in the state then it would be "very fatal" for the state.
He hailed the NDA government for allocating prestigious projects like All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and Post Graduate Horticulture Research and Educational Institute, major road infrastructure projects besides including holy city Amritsar in Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojna (HRIDAY).
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First Published: Jun 29 2016 | 9:48 PM IST

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