Election beginning of end for SAD: Preneet

Friday, 08/08/2014

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Patiala : Congress candidate from Patiala Urban Preneet Kaur here on Thursday said that the August 21 bye-elections will mark the beginning of the end for the Akali government in Punjab as people were fed up and wanted to get rid of them at the earliest.

“People are angry and disillusioned as they have been cheated all along during the last eight years and they are waiting for the opportunity to vent their anger,” she said while addressing a series of meetings in connection with her campaign.

Accompanied by senior party colleagues including former Minister Laal Singh and former Deputy Speaker in the Punjab Assembly Bir Devinder Singh, Preneet Kaur reminded people how the Akalis had successively cheated them into false promises.

“Where is the round the clock electricity, where are the roads and flyovers and metros,” she quipped, while taking a dig at Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal’s oft-repeated claims and promises made to the people of Punjab.

She said the only thing the Akalis had succeeded in was amassing wealth and multiplying their personal fortunes by grabbing sand mining, transport, cable, liquor business and land. “It is strange that while Akalis are getting richer and richer Punjab under their rule is getting poorer and poorer and is at the verge of bankruptcy”, she remarked while appealing people to ensure that they vote for the Congress on August 21 to convey a strong message to the Akalis that they can no longer be taken for granted.

The former External Affairs Minister urged people to compare the eight-year Akali rule with the previous five-year rule of the Congress and decide for themselves. “I am sure you can make out yourself who worked for the people and who worked to enrich themselves,” she said.

Meanwhile, Preneet Kaur came out in support of the striking employees of the Patiala Municipal Corporation saying the government should concede their genuine demands. She said while the employees were struggling this had also led to lot of problems being faced by the people and the government must resolve the issue at the earliest.

Preneet Kaur met the employees and expressed her solidarity with them saying their demands were genuine and justified. She supported their demand against making the clerical jobs state cadre which can lead to their transfer to anywhere.

The former External Affairs minister agreed with the striking employees that the solid waste disposal must be handled by the corporation itself and it must not be outsourced to any outside agency.

She also supported the demand for regularisation of the temporary staff besides allowing the pension option for those employees who had not been able to opt for it for lack of proper knowledge. Kaur hoped that understanding the seriousness and urgency of the matter, the Punjab government will soon take a decision so that employees will call off their strike in the interest of the people of Patiala.