After Arvind Kejriwal met Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale, who was recently attacked, Punjab Congress Chief Amarinder Singh today said the AAP convener is only fond of fishing in troubled waters.
"Beyond your compulsive fondness for fishing in the troubled waters, you had no purpose in visiting the Sant as you could neither offer any solace nor any solution to him (the Sant) after the murderous attack," Capt Amarinder said.
"You could not find time to visit the spot of the killing of the Congolese citizen, who was lynched in your backyard, Vasant Kunj, or stage a protest against the brutal act and still you have full day to visit Punjab", he said, questioning Kejriwal's "double standards".
The PCC president said, "It was quite characteristic of Kejriwal to wait for an untoward incident so that he could peep into Punjab and seize the photo opportunity ahead of the elections and run away without even meeting the media as he has no answers or explanation about the purpose of his visit."
"In normal routine, Kejriwal was last seen running away from a Ludhiana marriage place after being confronted by angry protesters," Amarinder said, adding, "otherwise, true to his habit, he will wait for something untoward to happen in Punjab so that he gets an excuse to come".
He said, when terrorists attacked the Pathankot airbase, Kejriwal visited the two martyrs' families in Punjab, while he did not bother to visit another who was from his home state Haryana.
"And now again he came to Punjab to grab the photo opportunity to pay lip service to the aggrieved Sant", he said, adding, he was doing it with an eye on the 2017 assembly elections in the state.
Amarinder urged the people to recall his tenure as chief
minister of Punjab between 2002 and 2007 and compare it with that of the Akalis in the state and the AAP in Delhi.
He cautioned the people to vote carefully lest they ended up "pushing Punjab into chaos and anarchy again".
The Congress leader alleged that the Akalis had "destroyed Punjab beyond redemption".
"Their main achievement has been pushing an entire generation into drugs," he alleged, adding, "Beware, lest they destroy another generation as well."
Amarinder said his "only cherished dream" now was to "bring back the cheer on the faces of Punjabis" which has gone "missing" over the last nine years of the SAD-BJP rule.
He criticised the Parkash Singh Badal government's policy of hiring employees on a contractual basis.
"My government will ensure that employees are recruited on a regular basis and on proper pay scales," he said, while criticising the state government for hiring teachers and doctors "on very low wages".
Later, talking to reporters, Amarinder slammed Badal for the alleged sacrilege incidents in the state over the last few months.
Holding the chief minister squarely responsible for such incidents, he said adoption of such tactics before the polls was the "hallmark" of Badal whenever he saw his "throne in danger".
"Parkash Singh Badal often tries to polarise the society to garner votes whenever he sees his chair in danger," the state Congress chief said.
Amarinder claimed that the Badal government was "ill-equipped" for the ensuing paddy procurement season. "It has absolutely no arrangements in place, including money for procuring paddy," he said.
On reservation for the "poor among the general category", the state Congress chief said he would ensure that the "downtrodden" sections in the category got "some sort of a relief" by reserving "some percentage of the quota available to it".
Amarinder promised to find a solution to the "ever increasing menace of stray animals" in the state by increasing the size of 'gaushalas' (cow sheds) and undertaking the fencing of the "existing beeds" (areas with a thick vegetation).
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In Chandigarh, Punjab Congress Legislature Party leader Charanjit Singh Channi said sacrilege incidents were blot on the Badals.
He appealed to the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib to immediately withdraw 'Fakhre Qaum and Panth Rattan' conferred on Badal in the past as the CM has not done anything for the community.
"Sukhbir being the president of Shiromani Akali Dal and the home minister of Punjab should take responsibility for these (sacrilege) incidents," Channi said, adding he should at least apologise to the people,... If he can't muster moral courage to tender his resignation".
The Punjab CLP leader alleged religious scriptures of all the major faiths have been desecrated over the period beginning with Guru Granth Sahib last year.
Security agencies seem to be helpless for which accountability must be fixed, he said.
