CM slams Rahul for ‘defaming’ state

CM slams Rahul for ‘defaming’ 

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during his Sangat Darshan at a village in Malout on Tuesday. Tribune photo

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, June 14

A day after AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi-led the Congress protest in Jalandhar against the “deteriorating” law and order situation and drug menace, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said the Gandhi scion was carrying forward his family’s legacy of being “anti-Punjab and anti-Sikh”.

The CM today resumed his Sangat Darshan from Malout after a gap of four days following a brief illness.

He alleged: “The entire Gandhi family has treated the Punjabis in general and the Sikhs in particular as their enemies. No Punjabi can ever forgive the Congress for attacking Darbar Sahib and killing innocent Sikhs in 1984. Rahul is just following in the footsteps of his ancestors by defaming the Punjabis as drug addicts.”

Badal challenged Rahul, saying the Gandhi scion had no magic wand to eliminate the drug menace in just one month. “The government is leaving no stone unturned to make the state drug-free. No drug is produced in the state. There are other states which are facing severe drug problem, but unfortunately forces inimical to the state are hell bent on defaming it,” he said.

Asks officers to visit villages

After getting complaints against some officials of the Rural Development Department at Lakhewali village, Badal directed the officers to visit villages. "If I can hold Sangat Darshans in villages, why you people can't visit affected areas. Make it a routine affair," he said.

Farm labourers protest

Some farm labourers, who were not allowed to meet the CM, lodged a protest at Bhagsar village, saying that the state government had not yet compensated them for their last year’s cotton crop loss due to whitefly. They also demanded free residential plots as promised to them.

Not invited: BJP leaders

District BJP leaders said they were not invited to the CM’s event so they did not participate in it. Rajesh Pathela ‘Gora’, BJP’s Muktsar district president, said, “We rarely get invitation for any government function. I was not invited to the Sangat Darshan. I have taken up the matter with senior party leaders.”

Courtesy: The Tribune