JALANDHAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly pitched for the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party collaboration, calling Congress "yesterday's news". He advised the state to stick with the time-tested Parkash Singh Badal. The state will go into polls next week and Modi has asked everyone to return the Akali Dal-BJP for a third term.
Speaking at a rally in Jalandhar, just a couple of hours after Congress' Rahul Gandhi launched a blistering attack at Majitha against the ruling combine. "You all can see how the Congress is collapsing across the country...They are desperate for power, their desperation is like that of a fish out of water," Modi said. He added that it "can go to any extent for the power of the chair." Modi credited CM Badal with working "night and day for the unity of Hindus and Sikhs" and that the 89 year old leader has discussed the welfare of Punjab's farmers and its poor, with him.
He mocked the Congress' efforts to try and win the election, saying the party was so sure it was winning the 2012 election that it had begun practising taking the oath. However, Punjab had re-elected the SAD-BJP party. And it would happen again this time, Modi said.
Rahul blames Badals for ruining the state
Rahul Gandhi had launched a vicious attack on the Badal family alleging they had "taken away everything from Punjab", and accusing them of forcing the people of the state to pay a "Badal tax". Speaking at a rally, the Congress vice-president slammed the party for being so complicit in drug trade and rampant corruption. "I said four years ago that 70 per cent youth are affected by drugs. The Badals made fun of me. Now, whole Punjab is saying what I said." He blamed them for ruining the future of the state and that only the Congress can fix the ills plaguing the region. "They (Badals) have ruined the future of Punjab. But the people are not at fault, the government is. We are not here to make false promises. The government must deal with the serious issues of drugs and corruption. Only a Congress government can successfully do this," Gandhi said. Rahul declared Punjab Congress unit chief Capt Amarinder Singh as the party's chief ministerial face.
