The Tribune INTERVIEW: Punjab needs govt run from within state, says Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, Feb 19

Punjab needs a government run from within the state and "not parties like AAP and SAD that succumb to pressures of the BJP", Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Saturday.

In an exclusive interview to the Tribune on Punjab election eve, Priyanka attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the charge of family-run parties being the biggest threat to democracy and said "the greatest danger to democracy is a PM who believes he is an emperor". 

The AICC general secretary, in charge of Uttar Pradesh, and party’s top campaigner for Punjab questioned AAP over allegations of separatist sympathy and said the Arvind Kejriwal led Delhi government was among the first to notify the black farm laws and "accept BJP's ideology." 

She also spoke of the Congress stakes in current polls and why the party projected Charanjit Channi as its CM face.

Excerpts:

How significant is the current election cycle for national politics and the Congress? How many states are you expecting to win?

Every election is significant for National politics as it indicates the mood of the electorate and establishes the path the nation is on. We are fighting hard in all states, even those in which our organisation was previously defunct like UP. It’s the first time we are fighting in 400 seats there after thirty years. I am hopeful that people are beginning to understand how destructive the BJP’s politics has been for the nation. We desperately need a politics of development to pull our country out of the social and economic strife the BJP has brought upon it. I feel the Congress provides the only alternative with experience in governance and a clear direction for the economy and for progress. I am sure the public understands this. Event management and governance are two different things. A country cannot be run successfully on the former.

What is the Congress Party's core message for Punjab?

The core message for Punjab is to bring in a stable and strong government which focuses on creating jobs, curbing price rise, supporting farmers to flourish once more and working tirelessly for the upliftment of the poor. Punjab needs a government that reflects its character and stands for the rights of the people of Punjab; a government that is run from within the state. It can neither be run by the BJP nor by any party that succumbs to pressure from the BJP whether it is the Akali Dal or the AAP.

Apart from anti-incumbency, what are your top challenges in Punjab?

Our fight is against rising prices and unemployment caused by irresponsible actions of the central government. These are the top challenges along with strengthening the health and education infrastructure and solidly supporting small and medium businesses and agriculture to pull these sectors out of the pain inflicted by the government’s policies. CM Charanjit Channi ji has taken decisive steps to bring things back on course, reduced the electricity tariff and waived off outstanding water dues to reduce the burden on people. We are confident that given a five year term the peace and prosperity Punjab will see under Channi ji will transform the state,  generate large scale employment for Punjab’s youth and enable farmers to become prosperous again.

Why’s there a feeling that the Congress wasn’t as proactive in Punjab as it could have been? You were the last to declare a CM face?

I cannot speak for why this feeling prevailed. Our party has been working tirelessly since Channi ji took over. He has been more than proactive in taking brave decisions for the people of Punjab including taking on the drug mafia of the state. Personally, I don’t know of any other government that has been as decisive in a mere 111 days as Channi ji’s government has.

How big a factor is farmers' agitation in these elections?

The entire episode spells out the BJP’s politics starkly: They brought in laws that would have handed over the agricultural sector to a few of their billionaire friends without any discussion with lakhs of affected farmers.

They refused to acknowledge the suffering being caused by the imposition of these laws.  They refused to speak to the agitating farmers and used every conceivable measure to oppress them including violence.

They did nothing as 700 farmers sacrificed their lives during the agitation. Instead their propaganda machine and their top most leaders called the agitators anti-national, terrorists.

Those same leaders turned a blind eye when their colleague’s son trampled six farmers to death. They took no action on him until there was a public uproar.

Then the election came along. Suddenly, the Prime Minister found it in his heart to shed tears and apologise to the agitating farmers. He repealed the laws not because he listened to their pain but because it was about to cost him the election. His government still refuses to acknowledge the martyred farmers and enables the minister’s son to get bail.

The reason this should be a major factor in the election is because this chain of events has completely exposed not only the BJP but also all those parties like AAP that accepted the Black Laws and succumbed to the BJP’s ideology.

In UP, you are stressing development based politics but in Punjab the Congress has played the Scheduled Caste card by projecting the first SC CM?

I don’t think these two issues are mutually exclusive. It’s not a question of “playing” the SC card. Development is about opportunity, it is about empowerment and it is about leadership that reflects the struggles and aspirations of the people. What better representation of this can there be than Channi ji? He has risen from the roots of Punjab, he understands and represents the people of Punjab, he is capable, hard-working, politically courageous and extremely astute. Why should his assumption of responsibility be defined as the playing of a caste card? Are his capabilities and his experience of no consequence to political commentators just because he happens to be Scheduled caste?

PM Modi has been saying that family run parties are a danger to democracy. He has accused the Congress of divide and rule. Your comments?

The greatest danger to democracy is a Prime Minister who believes he is an emperor, bullies the judiciary and the media, destroys the institutions upon which democracy stands, puts down dissent with force and violence, prioritizes monopolists in policy making and weakens the parliament. In any case, I would like to respectfully ask him why he has taken practically all the dynasts of the Congress party into his party and given them plum positions? If he is so averse to political families then why indeed do so many such families and their offspring flourish in the BJP?

How do you view AAP’s claim that it stands for common man and development in Punjab?

 It’s a completely hollow claim.. The AAP leadership has zero experience in governance. It runs a government that does not have the capability to pass a single file without the permission of the BJP run central government. It does not even have the Delhi police under it. How can it claim to understand governance and delivery?

The AAP government has not built a single hospital or a single educational institution during its term. The COVID pandemic wreaked havoc in Delhi. How can development take place without employment opportunities?

Kejriwal Ji’s government has provided only 440 jobs during its entire term in Delhi- this is a staggering figure. It reveals the truth about the AAP government’s claims. Moreover, any shopkeeper or small businessman in Delhi will tell you that they have done nothing to provide support to small businesses through the tremendous difficulties they have been facing due to the BJP’s flawed policies.

What makes you say AAP emerged from the RSS?

Their movement was fully supported by the RSS. They were one of the first governments to notify the Kisan laws. Kejriwal ji stayed the night in the home of a known separatist during the last elections, not to mention the latest revelations by some founding members of the AAP party. They can hardly claim to provide security to the people of Punjab.

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