SAD destroying Punjab's agriculture and youth: Amarinder Singh

Amarinder also accused Badals of amassing "huge amount of wealth" in last 10 years by grabbing profit-making businesses in state

Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh alleged that Akalis are "responsible" for "destroying" the agriculture and the youth of the state and promised that once his party comes to power, those involved in producing, smuggling or supply of drugs will be jailed.

"Those who pushed Punjab into drugs deserve no mercy as they have destroyed an entire generation," he said, adding Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia will also not be spared if their involvement is proved.

Addressing a political conference here yesterday in memory of Shaheed Karnail Singh Issru and to mark the 70th Independence Day, Amarinder alleged, "Under Parkash Singh Badal's rule the youth were pushed into drugs and the farmers driven to suicides."

"The quantum of damage the Badals have done to Punjab has no parallel in history. So much so, from the first position, the state has come down to 23rd rank in terms of progress and development," he claimed.

Amarinder also accused the Badals of amassing "huge amount of wealth" in the last 10 years by "grabbing" profit-making businesses in the state.

"Be it transport, cable distribution, liquor trade or sand mining, the Badals have their hands in everything," the state Congress chief alleged, adding the monopoly on cable distribution, sand mining and liquor trade will be finished once Congress forms government so that the income gets uniformly distributed.

The former Punjab Chief Minister accused Parkash Singh Badal of giving "precedence" to personal relations over the interests of the state due to which it is faced with the most difficult situation on Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal issue.

Amarinder also announced that Khanna will be made a district after Congress forms the government in the state following the Assembly elections next year.