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Cong, SAD to hold rallies in rival bastions on Oct 7

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Press Trust of India Chandigarh

Punjab's ruling Congress and opposition SAD on Sunday announced that their rallies in rival bastions of Lambi and Patiala, respectively, will be held on October 7.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will address a rally in Killianwali village in Lambi, the home constituency of Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal.

Amarinder Singh will target the former chief minister over the sacrilege issue.

On the other hand, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will hold an "anti-repression" rally in Patiala, the home turf of Amarinder Singh.

A Congress party delegation on Sunday reviewed the Killianwali grain market site for the proposed rally.

"Amarinder Singh has taken serious note of Badal's continued and wilful attempts to create communal unrest in the state through his deceitful statements on the report of Justice (retd) Ranjit Singh (Commission) on the widespread incidents of sacrilege that had taken place during the SAD-BJP rule," an official spokesperson said.

 

The chief minister alleged that the Akali stalwart had a habit of inciting communal passions by spreading lies and misusing religion every time around elections. He vowed to expose the former chief minister's real face before the people of Punjab.

"The former chief minister (Badal) had been trying to spread a disinformation campaign on the issue of Bargarhi and other sacrilege cases, as well as the incidents of police firing on innocent and peaceful protestors in Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura, since the commission had come out with its report," Amarinder Singh said.

"Badal, who has been under fire ever since the report was tabled in the state assembly, is clearly desperate to divert public attention from his own role in these cases," he added.

The SAD said its 'anti-repression' rally in Patiala will highlight and protest the "brutal murder of democracy" by "the unholy coalition" between the Congress and the state machinery which functioned like a "clan of gangsters" during the recently concluded zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections.

"The SPs, DC, SDMs and Tehsildars functioned as Congress election workers in this mockery of democracy," a resolution of the SAD core committee meeting held here said.

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal chaired the meeting, which was attended by Parkash Singh Badal, among others.

"We waited for Amarinder Singh to announce a date for his rally at Lambi. But he has clearly run out of steam. So people are coming to Patiala," the SAD president said in a party release.

Amarinder Singh had announced his decision to hold the rally in Lambi last week.

Apart from highlighting the "repression" in the polls, the rally will also focus on putting pressure on the government to solve the problems being faced by the people, SAD spokesperson Harcharan Bains said.

"Punjab is reeling under a corrupt, indifferent and non-performing government which has gone back on all the promises made to the people," he said.

The Congress government has brought governance, development and social welfare activities in the state to a screeching halt, he said.

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First Published: Sep 23 2018 | 9:25 PM IST

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