Punjab Elections 2022 Updates: Amarinder Removed as CM as He Didn't Agree to Provide Free Electricity, Says Rahul Gandhi
Assembly elections in the state are due on February 20. The Congress is fighting to retain power in the state with CM Charanjit Channi, while BJP and AAP make for a three-way fight.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, commenting on CM Charanjit Singh Channi?s earlier remarks on not allowing ?UP bhaiyas? into Punjab, said Sant Ravi Das was born in UP, Guru Gobind Singh ji in Bihar, and asked whether the leader would also ?not allow them to enter Punjab?.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday promised free coaching for JEE, NEET exams for Punjab government school students if elected to power. Tagging a post on a similar move initiated in Delhi, Kejriwal said ‘ye Punjab main bhi karenge (will do this in Punjab too)’.
Punjab CM and Congress?s chief ministerial candidate for the assembly elections, Charanjit Channi hit out at Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday, calling him a drunkard and questioning his ability to lead the state after taking ?three years to pass 12th standard?. Mann is Aam Aadmi Party?s CM face in Punjab, and has been embroiled in controversies related to alcoholism in the past. ?Bhagwant Mann is a drunkard and illiterate person. He passed 12th class in three years. How can we give command of Punjab to such a person?? Channi was quoted as saying by ANI.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday urged people to not trust the AAP and its chief Arvind Kejriwal, who only wants to deceive them with big promises in the same manner former chief minister Amarinder Singh earlier did. The SAD president made the comments while addressing public gatherings at Dharamkot for Tota Singh and at Nihalsinghwala for Baldev Singh Manuke.
The truth is that Punjabis gave a chance to the Aam Aadmi Party in 2017 by electing 20 of its legislators and even made it the principal opposition party in the state. However instead of working for the welfare of Punjabis, 11 out of its 20 legislators joined hands with the Congress party. Now you cannot trust AAP with your vote again, he said. On promises being made by the AAP, Badal said its election will mean withdrawing of free electricity to farmers. Punjabis should be clear that the Delhi model meant that the free power facility being availed by farmers in the state would be withdrawn. The AAP will also not extend social welfare benefits started by the SAD including the old age pension, ?Aata-daal? and ?Shagun? schemes, he said. He said in Delhi, the AAP government was not giving even one rupee to women as a welfare measure even as it has promised Rs 1,000 per month to women in Punjab. Badal said thousands of contractual employees in Delhi have been protesting for eight years demanding regularisation. I do not understand how Kejriwal can promise regularisation of contractual employees in Punjab when he is on record to have said that employees do not work if they are regularised, the leader said.
Asserting that the SAD alone represented their aspirations, Badal said the SAD governments were responsible for all the development done in the state, be it establishment of thermal plants, or construction of 4-6 lane roads, airports, and irrigation facilities. The Congress party does not have one achievement to its credit, he claimed, adding Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi also admitted as much. He alleged that the Amarinder Singh government of 2002-07 had only done patch work on state roads.
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