No vendetta politics, says Capt

Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 12

Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh today termed the absence of a regional face as one of reasons for AAP’s defeat. He said it was important to promote regional leaders to counter regional parties in states.

Amarinder spent the night at his New Moti Bagh Palace, where he cut his birthday cake with a selected few.

He ruled out vendetta politics by his government, saying proper investigations would be conducted to pin responsibility in drugs and other crimes, and suitable action would be taken against those found guilty.

He said his government would form a Special Task Force to curb the drug menace.

The CM-designate dismissed the AAP hype in the run-up to the elections as nothing more than a creation of the social media.

Optimistic about getting the Modi government’s support in taking forward Punjab, Amarinder recalled that he had faced no problem in working with the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his previous tenure.

He said he would soon be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss development projects for the state.

On poll promises

On farm loan waiver, a key poll promise of the party, Amarinder said he was committed to implementing it. Tenders would soon be floated to procure smartphones to be distributed among the youth registered under the programme, he said.

On SYL, Amarinder stressed the need to first ascertain the quantum of water available to the state. Asserting that the very premise of the formation of Haryana in 1966 under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, with its lopsided distribution of water, needed to be challenged, Amarinder said his government would work on this.

No clarity on Sidhu’s role

Amarinder said there should be no speculation on the role of Navjot Singh Sidhu. “I can’t comment on Sidhu. Things will be decided when I meet Rahul,” he said.