‘I am accessible to all’

Three-time MP from Patiala Preneet Kaur is not new to politics. In an interview with The Tribune reporter Aman Sood, she talks about how the state has developed in two years under the Amarinder Singh government.

What is the focus of your campaign? 

I am focussing on taking to the people the development agenda of the Congress-led Punjab Government and the party’s  national agenda which too is centred around overall development of the nation and its people. Patiala, as we all know, was completely sidelined by the SAD-BJP government in Punjab for 10 years. The constituency had no infrastructure, no roads, no clean drinking water and no proper system for waste management when Capt Amarinder government took over. In just two years, the state government has not just brought development to the region but also hope to all sections of people. 

Farmers, the youth and women are suffering due to problems created by the Modi government, which only the Congress under Rahul Gandhi can alleviate. In my campaigns, I am highlighting Rahul Gandhi’s promise of NYAY for all. The people of Patiala, like the rest of the nation, have not got any help from the Union Government in the past five years. 

What is your opinion about incumbent MP Dr Gandhi? 

I know very little about Dr Gandhi personally, except that he is a well-to-do practising doctor who came into politics on the AAP plank, but left the party within two months of entering Parliament. Evidently, there was a change in his ideology, thinking. What he thinks or believes in is  not something I have any clue about. 

What of corruption in Patiala local bodies? 

There really is no corruption now in the local bodies. Everything has changed in these two years. The Congress came to power in the state with the promise to bring transparency, which it has done. There are no middlemen. Everything is done online – all works. From clearances to permissions to licences, tenders etc, all are online now. 

Your opponents say you are unapproachable, as is your husband. 

That’s totally untrue for both of us. If you saw the number of people Captain Sahib meets every day – representatives of various organisations and groups, even individuals including party MLAs — you would realise how baseless these allegations are. In Patiala, anyone will tell you that I am as accessible as anyone else. Such accusations are being hurled by the Opposition which means it has nothing else to talk about. They have no constructive agenda. 

How do you see the fissures within the party? 

Some healthy differences are not just necessary but good for any political party or organisation. There are no fissures in the Congress and no deep-rooted divisions. Had that been the case, you would have seen large-scale rebellion by now. 

Do you think being short of finances, anti-incumbency will spoil your prospects?

Two years versus 10 years...and development versus devastation. You really think that is ground for anti-incumbency? People are not fools. They know the difference between a government that had every resource at their hands and yet failed to do anything for them and a government that has done so much in just two years without resources. 

Even if all else had been equal, two years out of five is really not a sufficient time period for anti-incumbency to set in, especially when the incumbent government has clearly proven its good intent and has translated that intent into solid work on the ground.