AMRITSAR – Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president (PPCC) Capt Amarinder Singh asked the party cadres to be battle-ready for the Assembly elections, while hinting at the possibility of a snap poll.
Addressing a public meeting at Chimyari village in Ajnala assembly segment, organised by former legislator Harpartap Singh Ajnala, Amarinder said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal could go for snap polls to pre-empt further erosion of his support base. “Badal knows that his graph is going down badly and in order to salvage his situation he might go for early elections,” he said.
Amarinder endorsed the report of the People’s Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice Markanday Katju (retd) that held the police accountable for the unprovoked firing on protesters at Behbal Kalan village and the Kotkapura lathicharge. He sought legal action against the guilty officials.
The former Chief Minister announced that the Congress, if voted to power, would ensure at least one job per family in Punjab, adding that marginal farmers having less than 4 acres would be included under reservation schemes. He said at least 90 lakh Punjab youths were addicted to drugs due to lack of employment opportunities. “Once the Congress comes to power, the drug traffickers would be put behind bars and criminal proceedings would be initiated against members of the sand and land mafias,” he said.
Reiterating that the Congress would opt for only one ticket per family, the PPCC president said this was in stark contrast to the Badals who had kept everything within their family.
Amarinder said only he would contest the elections from his family.
Prominent Congress leaders present included Harpartap Ajnala, Sukhbinder Sarkaria, Sukhjinder Randhawa, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Gurjeet Aujla and Ramanjeet Singh Sikki.
