CHANDIGARH:Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring today said that nobody had exclusive right over the national tricolor and celebrating the national festivals like Independence Day comes naturally to every Indian.
“Tiranga (tricolor) belongs to every Indian and we believe in Harr dil mein tiranga”, he remarked, while interacting with reporters before the start of the Tiranga Yatra in Mohali today. He said the Bharatiya Janata Party was trying to politicize it as if it had an exclusive right over nationalism.
After paying obeisance at the Gurdwara Amb Sahib, Mohali, he started the yatra and was joined by thousands of party workers. The yatra passed over a stretch of about 12 kilometers.
Warring said, the yatra was being organized across the state with 75 kilometers, to mark the 75 years of independence, covered in each district by different party leaders.
He said, the purpose of the yatra was to create awareness among the younger generation as to how the country got freedom and how many sacrifices were laid down to achieve it.
The PCC president ruled out the possibility of the return of former minister Balbir Singh Sidhu and his brother, who have joined the BJP, to Congress. He said the party had already shut its doors on all those who had betrayed it at a crucial hour. He said, the entire party’s rank and file was with the Congress and the Sidhu family was feeling alone and alienated in the BJP.
He also criticised the Aam Aadmi Party government for accepting the resignation of Dr Raj Bahadur. He said, instead of apologizing to the Vice Chancellor, the government had endorsed what the Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra had done. This, he added, will demoralize the medical fraternity in Punjab. “You may claim to open Mohalla clinics, but where will you find doctors?” he asked, while pointing out how doctors were leaving their jobs under the AAP regime.
Raja Warring was accompanied by senior party leaders including Punjab Youth Congress president Barinder Singh Dhillon and general PCC secretary in-charge Capt Sandeep Sandhu. Thousands of party workers joined along the way with the national flag in their hands.
The Tiranga Yatra will conclude on August 14.