M A I N   N E W S

CM’s residence hums with activity
Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 10
If the meeting of active Shiromani Akali Dal and Bhartiya Janta Party workers of Ropar district held today is any indication, the nerve centre of activity for the ruling alliance in Punjab for the next several days will be Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s official residence here.

Incapacitated by the surgery at Sir Gangaram Hospital in New Delhi after an accidental fall in Amritsar on November 18, the Punjab Chief Minister, looking relaxed and cheerful, called upon alliance workers to get ready for the bigger challenge, the coming Assembly elections, besides launching scathing attacks, both on the Congress and Panthic Morcha, without naming their leaders.

Holding of rallies was no indication of any one’s popularity, he said claiming that the people of Punjab were aware, intelligent and had already made up their minds about the type of governance they want.

The Chief Minister made no secret of his feelings of being targeted by both Congress and Panthic Morcha leadership maintaining that he was not opposed to anyone individually or any political party but had been fighting on principles in the interest of the state.

“If the entire world is unitedly fighting the war against terrorism, no one is expecting poor Afghanistan to pay for it. But in our case, the Congress government at the Centre not only put the entire financial burden of fighting militancy on financially-broke Punjab but also levied interest on the expenses so incurred to make it a debt-ridden state. Its economy was shattered. Once prosperous and forward looking state was destroyed by Congress which was in power both in Punjab and at the Centre,” Mr Badal said maintaining that development of Punjab was never on the Congress agenda.

Appreciating the present NDA government at the Centre and Mr A.B. Vajpayee, Mr Badal said financial assistance and grants received by Punjab from the present government were far more than any previous Congress government had given to this border State.

“A friendly Centre,” Mr Badal said,” has been a boon for Punjab and its people. No other government would have procured foodgrains produced in Punjab. See what is happening in Uttar Pradesh where farmers are being forced to sell their produce at much less prices than the MRP.”

Without naming former SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra, he said that those who led the organisation for 25 years and did nothing for “dharam parchar” or to check apostasy among Sikh youth , were now accusing him of “ignoring Sikh agenda”. Holding of tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa and bicentenary celebrations of the coronation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh were the great events to which all these leaders were invited. “But none of them turned up,” he said.

Similar exercises will be repeated at his Sector 2 residence almost everyday at least till December 16 so that Mr Parkash Singh Badal makes up for his physical inability to move around by addressing such “election rallies”.

It was his first meting with the active alliance district-level workers after November 18. The lawns of his bungalow were swarmed by hundreds of Akali Dal and BJP workers as senior party leaders, including Ministers, SGPC members and MLAs from Ropar district, sat close to the Chief Minister. The workers, meeting continued for a little more than two hours where besides praises for the achievements of the present government, no opportunity was missed to criticise both Congress and Panthic Morcha.

Among those present today were Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, Mrs Satwant Kaur Sandhu, Mrs Daljit Kaur, Mr Tara Singh Ladal, Mr Pritam Singh Sallomajra and Mr Bhupinder Nath Dewan. Also present were the Deputy Commissioner, Mr G.S. Grewal, and the SSP, Mr G.S. Bhullar, of Ropar.

The mood at the workers’ meeting was upbeat as the speeches and lectures were punctuated with slogans in praise of Punjabi unity, SAD-BJP unity and SAD-BJP government in Punjab, NDA government at the centre, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and Mr P.S. Badal.

Mrs Satwant Kaur Sandhu, Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, Mr Tara Singh Ladal, Mr Pritam Singh Sallomajra, Mr Bhupinder Nath Dewan and Mr Jarnail Singh Aulakh not only highlighted the achievements of the present government but talked about overall development of the state, including improvement and construction of new roads, bridges, upgradation of infrastructure, launching of various welfare schemes for various sections of society and benefits to government employees. They wanted the active workers to forget differences and grievances , if any, and work unitedly and dedicatedly for the success of the alliance nominees in the coming elections.