Claiming that the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections would be of vital importance to Punjab, Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the infighting in the state Congress unit would prove beneficial to the SAD-BJP alliance.
Addressing a rally in favour of actor-turned-BJP nominee from Gurdaspur seat Vinod Khanna, Sukhbir said, "Both Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Partap Singh Bajwa and former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh are more keen to settle their personal scores against each other instead of concentrating on their own elections."
Blaming the Congress-led government, he said the UPA had always extended "step-motherly treatment" to Punjab and it is only for this discrimination the state lacked development.
"Whenever (Chief Minister Parkash Singh) Badal approached the Centre with some new schemes for the state, Bajwa always acted as a hurdle and asked his senior leadership to reject all those proposals," he said.
Meanwhile, Bajwa slammed Sukhbir for selling dreams of taking the state to higher tangent of development while the reality was different with the lack of even basic amenities like proper roads.
At an election rally, Bajwa said in the seven years of the Parkash Singh Badal government, not a single big ticket project had been allocated to Majha, what to talk of Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency comprising Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts.
He said his development balloon had burst and humiliating defeat was staring on the face of the Akali Dal-BJP combine in this border state where the impact of (BJP prime ministerial candidate) Narendra Modi was nowhere discernible.
Recalling his achievements in the past five years, Bajwa said he was instrumental in taking up the issue of "one rank, one pension" scheme which was taken to its logical conclusion benefitting lakh of ex-servicemen.
