Like AAP, Cong needs to go door to door, says Capt

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Sultanpur Lodhi (Kapurthala), April 3

Citing the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) efforts to reach out to the people at the grassroots level to strengthen its base in Punjab, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Captain Amarinder Singh admitted that to regain power in the state, Congress workers need to go door to door and village to village to galvanise voters.

He said this during a special meeting with party workers at Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala on Sunday. The rally was organised by Sultanpur Lodhi MLA Navtej Cheema at the grain market and hundreds of workers attended it.

Referring to AAP, Amarinder said, “These ‘topiwalas’ are going door to door and village to village to meet voters and the Congress could also win if workers resort to the same strategy. It will strengthen our party base at the grassroots level and it will be in the interest of Punjab as well.”

He said AAP was being run by people from UP, Haryana and Delhi. “Only a Punjabi can understand the problem of a Punjabi,” he said, adding, “We are going to live and die here while you never know about the people who have no stakes in Punjab.”

When a worker cautioned the PPCC chief that the young brigade of AAP was also active on social media, but the same was lacking in the Congress, Amarinder said, “I am very much active on social media and interacting with my workers.”

Kusum, a party worker from Phagwara, told Capt Amarinder about the rising infighting within the party, which she claimed, has been eroding the base of the Congress in Punjab.

A Dalit worker belonging to the Valmiki community of Sultanpur said that there were 34 seats of the Dalit community in the state. Of these, Valmiki/Majabhi Sikhs should be given at least 17 seats to capture a major share of Valmiki votes. The worker indirectly referred to the hold of Adharmi/Ravidassia leadership in the Congress that was getting the benefit of being Dalit leaders.

On Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal’s statement of filing a PIL in the Supreme Court to seek a ban on poppy husk farming in Madhya Pradesh, Amarinder reiterated that the need for a PIL would not arise if the father-son duo (Badals) take the initiative to eradicate drug menace and drug supply line in the state.

The PPCC chief said that if the Congress comes to power, the Shagun Scheme amount would be revised to Rs 51,000 and the old age/disabled pension would be revised to Rs 2,000.