Punjab Congress Chief Partap Singh Bajwa today exhorted party workers to start preparations for the municipal polls and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, saying the common man was "suffering" in the SAD-BJP rule.
Congress members should make preparations for the panchayat and municipal polls, scheduled in next couple of months, and use the opportunity to strengthen party's position in the next Lok Sabha elections, Bajwa said here.
Bajwa today started the state tour with first meeting of party workers in the border district.
"In the last Lok Sabha polls, Congress had won 8 out of 13 seats of Punjab and we are confident to bag all seats this time," he said.
He asked party workers not to get demoralised by two successive defeats in Punjab assembly polls.
The poor policies of the SAD-BJP government have driven the state to the brink of bankruptcy, he said.
All sections of the society were struggling for survival, the Congress leader said. The common man was suffering in the SAD-BJP government, he said.
Heavy property tax was imposed on urban people, he said, adding it was due to pressure build by the Congress that state government decided to reconsider it.
"We will not allow SAD-BJP government to impose heavy taxes", Bajwa added.
The law and order is a major problem, the government has failed to protect the life and property of people, he said.
In such a disappointing scenario, the duty of Congress as a responsible opposition becomes even more important, he said.
He said Parkash Singh Badal led government has discriminated with border areas.
"I had proposed to set up a central university at Pathankot, where 300-acre of land procured several years back was lying unused. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also wanted the varsity to come up in the border area but due to political reasons it was shifted to another location of Chief Minister's choice," he said.
