Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today said the Congress would fight the Gurdaspur by- poll on development plank and rubbished AAP's claims that his party's candidate was an "outsider".
Even late actor and MP Vinod Khanna, whose death had necessitated the by-poll, hailed from Mumbai, while Sunil Jakhar is from Abohar in the state, he said.
"Punjab has been divided several times since partition and it's a pity that we still think in such terms. How can a Punjabi not be of Punjab? Opponents raise such petty issues in a bid to mislead voters," Amarinder said after state Congress president Jakhar filed his nomination papers at the deputy commissioner's here.
The chief minister's remarks comes after AAP recently dubbed Jakhar as an "outsider" for contesting the this year's assembly poll from Abohar and now entering the fray in Gurdaspur.
Citing his own example, Amarinder said that though he was Patiala, he had successfully contested the Amritsar Lok Sabha elections and the voters there never considered him as an outsider.
The chief minister said that he had already announced several projects for the holistic development of the border areas of Gurdaspur and Pathankot, including health and education infrastructure.
Funds to the tune of Rs 750 crore for projects in these areas has already been sanctioned and work on many of them has already started, Amarinder said.
The government has set aside Rs 84 crore for construction of toilets and providing water connections to all rural households in the district, he said.
Terming unemployment as one of the biggest challenges for his government, the chief minister said that the recent job melas (fairs) held across the state were a huge success and his government had plans to hold this event twice a year, starting February.
Taking a dig at the BJP's candidate Swaran Singh Salaria Amarinder said, "What can he do for the constituency when he has failed to even run his own medical college in Chintpurini, jeopardising the careers of 1,800 students."
He said that the High Court had ordered the closure of Salaria's college following which the state government sought the Medical Council of India's permission to adjust the students in other medical colleges in Punjab.
Dubbing Salaria as a "wheeler-dealer", he claimed that the BJP's candidate had approached him for a ticket about a month ago.
"He is only interested in making money," the chief minister said, alleging that Salaria would never leave his business interests in Mumbai for the sake of the constituency's people.
Urging people to vote for Jakhar, he said the Congress's candidate was "honest, an upright farmer, an eloquent speaker and a fearless and clean politician".
"He alone can raise your voice in Parliament", Amarinder said, adding that the time had come to take the battle for Punjab's interests to the Centre.
Hitting-out at SAD leaders, including Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia, he alleged that they had "plundered" the state for a decade.
"They were only interested in making money, even by patronising the drug trade, and they had ruined Punjab", he said.
On a question on farm loan waiver, Amarinder said the Cabinet had approved the draft notification and the same would be issued after clearance from the Election Commission of India (ECI).
He said he did not foresee any objections from the ECI, as the announcement was made in the House in June.
"While UP, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are waiving loans of only Rs 50,000, we have waived off crop loans up to Rs 2 lakhs", he said, claiming that he had inherited a government with empty coffers.
Later, addressing a public rally, Amarinder asserted that his government would find ways to raise money for waiving farm loans and claimed that despite financial constraints, his government had fulfilled a many promises made in the partys manifesto.
Speaking to reporters, Jakhar said that BJP's decision to field Salaria had come as a relief to him, as he was a big fan of actor Vinod Khanna and contesting against his wife Kavita would have burdened his heart.
He said that the BJP was a party of businessmen and had therefore chosen Salaria as its candidate.
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