Not Chief Ministerial contender: Warring
RAJPURA/SANGRUR: Dismissing the reports about factionalism in the Punjab Congress, the PCC president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring today said that there was no Chief Ministerial contender in the party right now as everybody was working hard to get the state rid of an inefficient, incompetent and a corrupt government.
Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and AICC general secretary in charge of Punjab, Bhupesh Baghel said he was overwhelmed with the support people have provided to the Congress rallies for ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’. He said the Congress had taken an impressive lead across the country as the ‘Sangram’ started from Punjab.
Baghel asserted that the Congress party, like always, will continue to work and fight for the rights of the poor and the downtrodden who, otherwise, did not have any voice. He said the Congress party will take this fight to the finish and will not rest until the MGNREGA is restored.
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa asserted that it was only the Congress the people of Punjab were looking forward to for proper and effective governance in the state.
Addressing the ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ rally here today, PCC president said that the Congress party will not let the MGNREGA be scrapped at any cost. He said, while the BJP government at the centre had crossed all the limits by scrapping a pro-poor and pro-Dalit scheme like MGNREGA, the AAP government in Punjab was no less as it had failed to provide jobs to people under the scheme in Punjab.
He said, the MGNREGA had been acknowledged not only in India, but globally also, as the best pro-poor scheme to elevate poverty. He pointed out, poor people living in the rural areas who could not get employment there, were assured of 100 working days in a year as a matter of constitutional right. But now the Modi government has snatched away that right and now it will be his government’s discretion whether to provide jobs or not.
Expressing his gratitude to the people for participating in large numbers in the “MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’, Warring promised them that the Congress party will work for their welfare. He also scoffed at the reports of so called factionalism in the party in Punjab. Taking a dig at those suggesting that there were five Chief Ministerial aspirants in Punjab, he said, there was none as everybody wants the party to win the election. “Chief Minister will be decided by the high command”, he noted, while adding at the same time that he was not a Chief Ministerial contender.
“I want to fight for the people of Punjab, I want to fight against drugs and gangsters and I am not fighting for the Chief Ministerial position”, Warring added.
Speaking on the occasion, Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa said that winds of change had started blowing in Punjab.
He pointed towards the huge and massive turnover of people in the Congress rallies during the last three days. He said that the Congress will work to address the aims and aspirations of the people of Punjab.
Bajwa promised that the Congress government that will be formed in Punjab in 2027 will make special budgetary provision for the MGNREGA so that the poor and the downtrodden in the rural areas will be provided jobs. He said, nobody had any expectations from the AAP government in Punjab.
Expressing grave concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state, he referred to the daily killings of people at the hands of gangsters. He said, the way Congress finished terrorism from Punjab, same way the Congress government will finish the gangsters within one month. He said the AAP government had completely failed on all fronts.