Rana Gurjit, AAP halqa in-charge spar over flood relief measures in Sultanpur Lodhi

Amidst hectic visits by leaders of all political parties to the flood-hit Sultanpur Lodhi region, a sharp verbal exchange has taken place between Congress MLA from Kapurthala Rana Gurjit Singh and AAP halqa in-charge Sajjan Singh Cheema.

AAP leader Sajjan Singh Cheema termed Rana’s potshots directed at his party, leaders and the Chief Minister as unsavoury. He was reacting to comments made by Congress leader Rana Gurjit Singh during a visit to the flood affected areas on Friday.

While speaking to the media during his recent visit to the flood-hit villages, Rana had questioned the government’s relief and compensation efforts. “Thanda karan jehre lok ande hai na, ohnan da piccha thanda kar denge lok (those who are coming to cool down people, will have their backs cooled by the people),” he said and also questioned whether the state government was giving any compensation to the residents affected by floods.

Meanwhile, questioned on CM’s assurance to people on compensating them for everything, including “Murgis” and “Bakras” (goats), Rana had said, “CM sahib may have made these comments in a certain mood. We don’t need compensation for hens. ‘Bakri ehnan ne chaddi nahi honi. Bakri vadd layi honi je zyada tang kardi si’ (Goats must not have been spared by them, they must have slaughtered the goats).”

Notably, his son Rana Inderpartap is an MLA from Sultanpur Lodhi and enjoys significant popularity among the electorate of the flood-hit areas —- a majority of which fall in Sultanpur Lodhi. Both Rana and his MLA son have been long time critics of the present state government’s handling of the flood situation in Kapurthala and Sultanpur Lodhi, over subsequent years.

While addressing the media during a conference regarding flood relief at Sultanpur Lodhi, the constituency’s AAP halqa in-charge Sajjan Singh Cheema said on Sunday, “All our ministers and the Chief Minister went to the flood-hit areas. The CM has instructed to conduct special girdawari and compensation for every loss sustained by the farmers.”

Responding to Rana’s jibes, he said, “Maybe because of his advancing years, he is making such comments. We daily hear what his party members say about him. So we don’t mind. Our farmer brethren are currently in crisis. We need to help them rather than scoring brownie points. What did Rana Gurjit do during his own tenure? He also had this department – what did he do? What did the previous governments do? The problem didn’t arise just in the three years of our government.”

Cheema added, “Rather, during the AAP government, the CM has ordered all engineers to come up with a concrete solution. He has also announced compensation and sought a permanent solution to the flood problem. But he (Rana) is saying things like ‘Piccha thanda kar deanage’. That’s his ego speaking. That is why Zira sahib also said there isn’t much difference between Rana and Ravan.”

Cheema said this referring to Congress leader Kulbir Singh Zira’s post some days ago, where he compared Rana Gurjit Singh to Ravan.