Capt Amarinder warns AAP to wake up against forces inimical to peace in Punjab

CHANDIGARH, October 1: Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today warned the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab to wake up against the activities of the forces which are inimical to Punjab and the nation.

Addressing a press conference after inducting former office bearers of the Punjab Lok Congress, which has since merged with the BJP, into the party, Capt Amarinder said, law and order was the state subject and it was the duty and responsibility of the state government to confront such forces and their activities.

Asked as to who did he think was behind all such activities, he said, it was Pakistan, which had never stopped form indulging in mischief and seeking an opportunity to foment trouble in Punjab.

He pointed out, he had been long maintaining that Pakistan was consistently using drones to send weapons and drugs into Punjab. He said, while earlier the range of drones was about 7 kms and now these could go up to 42 kms even.

Capt Amarinder said, if the state government did not take strict and firm action, the situation could deteriorate further which Punjab cannot afford anymore after seeing a dark decade.

To a question about the precarious financial situation in the state and huge debt accumulated and whether the centre can bail the state out, the former Chief Minister said, it was not possible. “The centre does not have that much money to waive off debt as everything is planned and budgeted”, he pointed out, while saying that the state will need to generate and mobilise its own resources.

However, he expressed grave skepticism over any such possibility, as the government was being remote controlled by Raghav Chadha and Arvind Kejriwal. He said, this was unprecedented and unconstitutional that someone like Chadha would convene meetings of senior officers and then refer matters to Kejriwal instead of Bhagwant Mann.

While inducting various office bearers of the PLC into the BJP, Capt Amarinder said, he was profoundly grateful to them for standing by him during difficult times. He said, with their induction, the BJP will get further strengthened. He announced that similar functions will be held separately in Malwa, Doaba and Majha regions to induct grassroots level workers into the BJP.

Earlier, while welcoming the PLC leaders and office bearers into the BJP, the state president Ashwani Sharma said, the party’s base in Punjab had expanded and broadened further.

He said, with Capt Amarinder joining the party, the BJP was not only feeling strengthened in Punjab, but nationally as well as he was popular across the country.

The state BJP general secretary Subhash Sharma and senior party leaders Ms Jai Inder Kaur, Kamaldeep Saini were also present on the occasion.

Those who were inducted into the party today included Patiala Mayor Sajiv Bittu Sharma, Bikram Inder Singh Chahal, KK Sharma, Jagmohan Sharma, Ankit Bansal, Damanjit Singh Mohie, Sachin Sharma, Vishwas Sharma, KK Malhotra, Harmesh Dakala, Surinder Ghuman, Anuj Khosla and others.