Punjab polls: At Lambi, Capt, Rahul vow to end Parkash Singh Badal politically

Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday brought party vice-president Rahul Gandhi to Lambi and vowed to politically end five-time chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Smelling ‘victory’, Rahul addressed the Congress’ last public rally at Badal bastion on the last day of the campaigning on Thursday.

Rahul’s gestures of hope in Amarinder as the next chief minister, clubbed with the endorsing presence of the state party stalwart Sunil Jakhar, made it a convincing event in a jam-packed stadium. “We will wipe out ‘chitta’ (white synthetic drug powder) in a month’s time,” Rahul said.

“I have asked Captain Sahib to bring stricter laws to deal with drugs. Drug suppliers, dealers or manufactures will be put behind bars and their properties sealed and given back to people,” Rahul earlier stated at Gidderbaha at a rally in favour of Youth Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.

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Common cremation grounds in villages to end the caste bias, retrieval of the panchayat land, filling up the backlog of government jobs, generating employment in the private sector and setting up a world class cancer cure institute were other promises made by Rahul.

Religious pitch

Rahul Gandhi repeatedly mentioned the principles and teachings of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh, saying the Gurus had served the people at their own cost, but the Badals had gathered huge wealth at the cost of the people. “Guru Nanak Ji spread message of ‘sab kuchh tera’ (all is your) but Badals have made it ‘sab kuchh mera’ (all is mine).

Attack on AAP

The Congress roped in AAP’s dissident MLA Col Devinder Sehrawat from Delhi for the AAP bashing. “Kejriwal is a big liar, a fraud,” the disgruntled MLA from Bijwasan on Delhi’s outskirts said from the Congress dais. “Kejriwal is helping the extremist forces and the result is what happened in Maur,” he said.

Rahul said, “It is sad that Kejriwal is not only helping such forces but also staying at their houses. Punjab needs to fight against such forces,” he said.

Badal’s absence

As Rahul appealed to the people of Lambi to acknowledge Amarinder as their future leader now, Badal was over 100 km away to conclude the Shiromani Akali Dal’s campaign at Sardulgarh. Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal instaed held the fort in Lambi, leading a well-attended road show.