Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would ruin the country completely if allowed to get a second term as PM.

Addressing an election rally at Dana Mandi, Zira, in support of Congress candidate from Khadoor Sahib constituency Jasbir Singh Dimpa, the CM said India is facing threats from all sides, but Modi can only think in terms of “my fauj (army)”, which Amarinder dismissed as crap, to reiterate that the armed forces did not belong to the PM but were India’s pride.

Advertisement

As an ex-Army man, Amarinder said he could vouch for the fact that those in the armed forces never think of or talk in terms of religion or politics, and were only focused on keeping India and its people safe and secure at all times.

He vowed to make everyone, including former CM Prakash Singh Badal, pay for their crimes including the desecration of the holy scriptures to create a communal divide in the state to woo Sikh voters during their rule.

The CM said inspector general Kunwar Vijay Pratap, who was transferred by the Election Commission (EC) under pressure of the Badals, exerted through the Union government, would be back in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to complete the probe on the 29 May, the day the code of conduct is lifted.

If Badal is found guilty, he will go behind the bars, said the CM, asking the Akali supremo, “How long do you think you can save yourself from the consequences of your actions?”

Pointing out that there had not been a single case of sacrilege under the Congress government, the CM said it was obvious that the desecrations during the Akali rule were deliberately triggered to divide votes on communal lines.

Citing the total devastation of Punjab during the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) rule, the CM called on the people to strengthen the Congress’s hands and let the Badals know where Sikhs and Punjab stand today.

The whole of Punjab wants to get rid of the Badals and the only way to do it in a democracy is to vote them out, he said, quipping that he would personally go to Ferozepur and Bathinda constituencies today to turn the tide against SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife Harsimrat Badal.

Lashing out at the misuse of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and Akal Takht by the Badals for political gains, the CM stressed the need to send all 13 Congress MPs to Parliament to ensure that the SGPC elections, now due, are conducted without delay. He reiterated that he would support anyone who can help take SGPC out of the control of the Akalis.