Pb bypolls: Amarinder confident of 'clean sweep' on four seats

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday exuded confidence that the Congress would register a "clean sweep" in all the four assembly segments in the bypolls and said victory and defeat was a way of politics but the mood was clearly in favour of his party.

He refuted Akali chief Sukhbir Badal's charges of no development in the state under the current regime.

During a roadshow in favour Congress nomine Indu Bala, the chief minister also ridiculed Badal's statement that he was not accessible to people.

"Sukhbir is either blind or is doing an ostrich act to avoid facing the harsh reality that the people have rejected him and his party," he said on the last day of the campaigning.

The entire Akali leadership is a "spent force", and now they have nothing but "lies" to give to the people, the chief minister asserted.

Singh assured the people that he would take care of the constituency as his own, and take forward the vision charted by former MLA Rajnish Kumar Babbi, who had passed way after prolonged illness.

Babbi's wife and current Congress candidate Indu Bala will translate all the promises made by him to the people of Mukerian, he said.

Describing Mukerian as a constituency of Congress stalwarts, Singh recalled the development work done by seven-time MLA Kewal Krishan, who had also served as a minister and speaker during his previous term as chief minister.

The same level of development will be ensured once again by Indu Bala with the full backing of his government, he said.

Confident of a "clean sweep" in all the four assembly segments headed for voting on Monday, Singh said while victory and defeat was a way of politics, the mood was clearly in favour of the Congress.

He rejected the suggestion that Dakha and Jalalabad were "hot" seats, saying he did not see them as unique segments in any way, and did not perceive either the BJP or the SAD to be a strong opponents in these constituencies or in Phagwara and Mukerian.

Singh, who has been campaigning in all these seats for the past five days, said he strongly believed that all the four seats were set for a Congress win, with no other party standing a chance.

The development work done by his government in the past two-and-a-half months speaks for itself, he said, asserting that people wanted progress, which they had discovered that no other party except the Congress could deliver in Punjab.

The bypolls will be held on Phagwara, Dakha, Mukerian and Jalalabad assembly seats on October 21.