Capt Amarinder dares Sukhbir to hold rally after election code of conduct

CHANDIGARH, December 17: Ridiculing the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal seeking proof of the misuse of official machinery for Moga rally, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh today challenged him to hold the rally after the imposition of the election code of conduct.

“You don’t require proof for things which have already been established independently”, Capt Amarinder told Sukhbir while pointing out to widely circulated media reports along with visuals as how officials were being directed, dictated and coerced to moblise crowds for the rally.

Moreover, the former Chief Minister added, the entire police set up and the bureaucracy was in regular touch with him and they have been briefing and updating him about each and every development taking place within the government. “So better keep quiet and forget asking for the proofs, lest we reveal more than you know about yourself”, he advised Sukhbir.

The PCC President asked Sukhbir to come out of the fool’s paradise he was living in and confront the harsh reality of having lost the ground. He observed, Sukhbir is apparently suffering from a psychological condition where in a person having lost everything struggles to make himself believe to the contrary by employing all the fair and foul means.

Challenging Sukhbir to better hold the rally after the imposition of the election code of conduct, when his writ will stop running in the administration, Capt Amarinder revealed that the government officials had been asked to report at Moga and mark their presence there, besides getting people along with them.

He pointed out, 40,000 police personnel had been deputed in Moga to swell the crowds for the rally. “Otherwise what for do you need such a massive posse of cops?” he asked, while asserting that police personnel and government officials from across the state were asked to report at Moga and attend the rally. He said, even the jail staff from across the state had been deputed to Moga to swell the crowds.

The PCC President said, besides the independent media reports, the very fact that the rally was being organised before the imposition of the election code of conduct is enough proof that it was more of a government sponsored show than an Akali rally that will hardly make any difference to their dwindling fortunes.

“The manner in which officials like the Deputy Commissioners, the Senior Superintendents of Police, the District Transport Officers, tehsildars, patwaris  and others were being coerced to bring in people leaves hardly any doubt in anybody’s mind that it is a sarkari (government) rally”, he asserted.

Capt Amarinder doubts Mr Badal contesting 2012 elections

CHANDIGARH, December 16: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh today expressed serious doubts about the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal contesting the 2012 assembly elections as he has not been able to identify any safe assembly constituency for himself so far. “I believe Mr Badal will beat a safe and graceful retreat without contesting the elections as he will not like to call it quits after getting defeated at the end of his political career spanning over seven decades”, Capt Amarinder said in a statement issued here today.

The PCC President maintained that no matter how much hype the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal may create about mobilizing people for his Moga rally, but the matter of the fact remains that neither of the two, Mr Badal and Mr Sukhbir, have been able to make up their mind as from where they will contest as they are finding it difficult to identify safe seats for themselves.

He remarked, it is an irony that the Akalis have identified and almost finalized the candidates for almost all the assembly segments except for Mr Badal and Mr Sukhbir who are finding the going getting tough in their respective assembly segments of Lambi and Jalalabad.

“If Mr Badal decides to run away from Lambi, as he has no other option, it will demoralize his workers and if he contests from there he is certain to lose, which obviously he will not like to”, he pointed out, while remarking, under these circumstances graceful exit is the only and the best option available for Mr Badal and in all probability he will opt for it.

Capt Amarinder said, the independent media reports have already vindicated his charges against the Akalis that they are misusing the official machinery to mobilize crowds for their Moga rally. “Forcible numbers jacked by coercive methods as Akalis are using, really don’t matter for the final electoral outcome”, he observed, while remarking, “what matters is how much acceptable you are to the people you have been representing for so long and when you doubt their support that means you are not acceptable to them”