Badal: Won’t allow forces to push Punjab into turbulent times

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that some forces are trying to push the state into “turbulent times” by vitiating its peaceful atmosphere and urged people to not fall prey to their “divisive agenda.” 

The five-time Chief Minister also launched a scathing attack on senior Congress leader Amarinder Singh, calling him a “chronic turncoat” for “frequently shifting his loyalty from one party to another throughout his entire political career.” 

Addressing the gathering during Sangat Darshan programme at Khadoor Sahib, Goindwal Sahib, Bharowal and Fatehabad villages in Khadoor Sahib Assembly segment here today, Badal said that Punjab had suffered a major setback during black days of militancy.

“But due to the massive efforts of the SAD-BJP alliance government, the state was put on the path of high growth trajectory,” he said.

“Unfortunately some forces who are not for the development of the state were again trying to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere of Punjab,” he said.

The Chief Minister urged the people of state to not fall prey to “divisive agenda of such forces and foil their nefarious designs”. He said that public support was the basic necessity to promote the ethos of communal harmony, peace and amity in the state. “I assure you that with your pro-active support and fulsome cooperation, we will not allow any force to push our state again into turbulent times,” Badal said.

Punjab has been rocked by series of incidents of sacrilege recently.

Describing Lok Sabha MP from Amritsar Amarinder Singh as a “chronic turncoat”, the Chief Minister said that people of state could hardly believe his (Amarinder Singh) credentials of a strong-willed politician “as he had frequently shifted his loyalty from one party to another throughout his entire political career”.

“How anyone could rely on Amarinder Singh?” he questioned. He said Amarinder Singh once a sworn Akali was now “desperately flexing muscles to take over as the President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC)”.

However, Badal said that people of the state had already rejected Amarinder Singh twice (referring to Assembly polls in Punjab in 2007 and 2012) “and he was sadly mistaken that they would repose trust in him in the near future.” 

Amarinder Singh had questioned the timing and motives of the Centre in seeking ‘selective information’ from Swiss authorities about the purported account details of his wife and former minister Preneet Kaur and son Raninder Singh.