Jaitley will be Punjab's voice in Parliament: Badal

Seeking votes for BJP's candidate in Amritsar Arun Jaitley, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said he would be the voice of the people of Punjab in Parliament.
"(Arun) Jaitley will be the voice of the people of Punjab and border district of Amritsar in the Parliament," Badal said while addressing an election rally here.
Launching a scathing attack on Congress candidate Amarinder Singh, Badal said he was forced by Rahul Gandhi to contest as he was reluctant to be nominated.
"One after the other, Congress leaders were shying away from contesting elections but they were forced to do so by their party president," Badal said.

Taking a dig at Congress, he said it was afraid of declaring its Prime Ministerial candidate due to "imminent" defeat it is foreseeing in the elections.
Lambasting the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre for "miserably" failing on all fronts including economy, foreign policy and internal security, Badal alleged the UPA government would be known for corruption, scandals and kickbacks.

"They have pushed the nation's economy backward," he said.
"People were fed up by the 10 years of UPA rule at Centre and they have made up their mind to throw out Congress in the coming elections," Jaitley said.
Claiming that there was a "clear cut" Modi wave in the country, Badal said NDA would form the next government.

He said the alliance would surpass the 272-seat figure in the Parliament.
During the rally, senior Congress leader and former Transport Minister Parminder Singh Sandhu joined the Shiromani Akali Dal (B).
The rally was also attended by Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parikar.