Badal sabotaged Barnala’s peace initiative: Bajwa
Saturday, 04/04/2015
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Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday accused chief minister Parkash Singh Badal of sabotaging then CM Surjit Singh Barnala’s initiative to restore peace in the troubled state, due to which thousands of lives were lost.
Addressing a series of public meetings in support of Congress-backed Sanjha Morcha candidate Simar Pratap Singh Barnala, Bajwa said, “It was Badal who opposed the signing of the Punjab Accord between then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sant Harchand Singh Longowal. It was the first agreement of its kind inked in the country and the same was ratified by Parliament.”
The PPCC chief said it was Badal who had backstabbed Barnala by revolting against him, leading to a split in the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
Badal incited rebellion against Barnala as he had not been accommodated in the cabinet, Bajwa added. He claimed that Badal had always stabbed Punjab in the back for vested interests.
Showing the report card of the SAD-BJP alliance, he alleged that they had made tall promises during the 2012 assembly polls, but nothing had materialised on the ground.
Bajwa said neither had any unemployed youth of the state got ` 1,000 nor had students of classes 11 and 12 been given laptops or desktops, as promised by the government,
The Badal government’s only achievement is that it provided drugs to budding players who were promised ` 10,000 per annum as scholarship, he added.
Despite the low prices of petrol and diesel in the international market, the Badal government has hiked the bus fare because 70% of the transport business is owned by the Badal family and their relatives, Bajwa claimed.
When asked about campaigning by former CM Capt Amarinder Singh in Dhuri, the PPCC chief said, “I don’t want to comment as that might lead to cancellation of his tour. Let me do my work and let him do his.”
Bajwa, who was accompanied by Simar Pratap, addressed rallies at Dhura, Bhojowali, Plasor, Bhalwan, Bhullarheri and Bhadlawad villages.
