Kicking off to an early start to his party’s campaign ahead of the state Assembly polls a year from now, Punjab Congress Committee (PCC) chief Amarinder Singh described the Akali-BJP coalition as a “sham government” wherein both the chief minister and the deputy chief minister were holidaying abroad and most ministers were absent.
Addressing a big show of strength rally at Sangrur on Wednesday, Capt. Singh said, “There is practically no government. The father and son are staying abroad and the ministers are seen nowhere while it is eight months since chief minister Parkash Singh Badal was last heard. It can only be a miracle that this sarkar is still in office.”
Encouraged by the swarming turnout the former chief minister was at his wittiest. “There is only one thing that this government deserves — to be thrown out. It has failed Punjabis and Punjab on every single count and this is a fact that has now been endorsed by the chief minister’s own nephew and former finance minister,” he said, evoking a huge applause from his enthusiastic audience.
The Punjab Congress chief drew a particularly lusty response when he reiterated his promise to “book the politicians, bureaucrats and police officers who colluded to register false criminal cases against Congress workers and common citizens.” He said, “We will account for every one of the 20,000 cases against our people,” exhorting people to “note the names of their tormentors so action can be initiated after the assembly elections”.
Capt. Singh ridiculed what he said were desperate political manoeuvres by the Akali Dal wherein the serving state DGP and a senior IAS officer were openly being cultivated as prospective candidates for the party. “They seem to have fallen short of jathedars and are now trying to rely on employees. But you must all remember that these officers are the very people who unleashed the Akali Dal’s terror campaign against common citizens,” Capt. Singh said.
Though elections in Punjab are slated a year from now, the Congress’s show of strength at Sangrur already appeared to be signalling the usual public frustration with the incumbent regime — the kind that has historically ensured the rotation of power between the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal.
More of the mood is likely to be in evidence over the coming weeks when large sections of the population throng political conferences at upcoming religious festivals, at Jor Mela at Fatehgarh Sahib and the Maghi Fair at Muktsar in mid January.