Chandigarh: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s “undue” influence on the Bhagwant Mann cabinet in Punjab, while wrapping up the state leg of the party’s outreach march, the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Gandhi took an indirect dig at Kejriwal aide and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha’s appointment as the chairman of the Punjab government’s advisory panel, saying Chief Minister Mann should be allowed to run “Punjab from Punjab”, and not by remote control.
He said “RC” — referring to the acronym used among bureaucracy and politicians in Punjab for the Rajya Sabha MP — meant the “RC” of remote control..
The Congress leader also accused the Aam Aadmi Party of using Punjab’s money to pay for advertisements in the recently-concluded Gujarat elections. “This is not right. Bhagwant Mann was with us in the Lok Sabha. He is not like Arvind Kejriwal. I like Bhagwant Mann and I want to tell him that Punjab should be run from Punjab,” Gandhi told a gathering at Pathankot Thursday.
Punjabis are unique, Gandhi said, adding, “You have your own language, a rich history and Gurus who have shown you the path. That is my path too. I also bow my head before them and have learnt a lot.”
Berating arch rivals the BJP, Gandhi said the Congress-led coalition UPA had governed with schemes aimed at reducing the insecurities of people. “BJP schemes only lead to increased fear among the people. Demonetisation increased fear among the poor, high GST led to fear among small industrialists and traders. The crop insurance scheme scared farmers.”
“The three farm laws also generated fear among farmers, people who begin their work at four in the morning and continue through the day. Similarly, the Agniveer scheme generated fear among the armed forces,” Gandhi added.
“Once you fill the people with fear, it is easy to spread hatred and that is what the BJP does,” he said.
He touched upon his oft-repeated reproof that the BJP has “looted the people’s hard work and handed it over to a handful of multimillionaires in India. In return, these multimillionaires market the BJP in the media and that is why you see Modi’s picture everywhere around you.”
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra had rattled the BJP.
“First they pooh-poohed the possibility of such a yatra and now they are worried about its success. They held a two-day meeting and instead of discussing national issues, including the security of the country, they only debated how to win elections in the next 400 days,” Kharge said.
He called the BJP a party of thieves. “They have stolen five states from us where the people voted Congress to power. The BJP is never worried about the country or its people. Their only concern is to win elections and remain in power.”
During the rally, Punjab Congress leaders unitedly requested Gandhi to not allow “outsiders” to run the show.
State Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said politicians who have left other parties and joined the Congress could not be trusted. “Only those who have Congress blood in them should be entrusted with responsible tasks,” Warring said. Former cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa seconded Warring’s statement.
Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa hailed Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime Minister. He said if Gandhi leads the country, he should not hand over the reins to someone else. “A proxy rule,” he said, was not acceptable anymore.
Bajwa also hit out at former finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal who resigned from the Congress Wednesday and joined the BJP. “As finance minister, he first ruined the Shiromani Akali Dal, then the Congress and now he will do the same to the BJP,” Bajwa said.
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