Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that Punjab needed a stable government to protect national security.
Modi, who was addressing a rally in Jalandhar—his first this election season—amid tight security arrangements, said Punjab needed a government that could protect it.”In Punjab, the NDA alliance will form a government. In Punjab, a new chapter of development will start. I want to assure the people, especially the youth, that for their brighter future, we will not leave any stone unturned,” Modi said, saying that an NDA government in Punjab will pave way for a new chapter of development in the state.Congress policies have destroyed industries and affected employment in Punjab, Modi said.“Congress leaders are fighting among themselves. What security will they give you,” he asked.The Congress, he said, did not give its state governments any autonomy.
“Congress governments are controlled through remote control by one family. Is that the spirit of federalism? It’s unconstitutional,” he said in his speech.He also hit out at the state’s Congress government saying he wanted to pay obeisance at the Devi Talab Mandir here, but the police and the administration were unable to make arrangements.On January 5, the prime minister had to return from Punjab without attending any event, including a rally, after his convoy got stuck on a flyover due to a blockade by protesters in Ferozepur. For the state polls, Modi had on February 8 addressed a virtual rally.He invoked the 1984 riots and said the Congress was carrying out its vendetta against Punjab.Punjab, he said, needed a double engine of development—Captain Amarinder Singh’s state government and his own central government. Only National Democratic Alliance can provide that, he said.”Nava Punjab BJP de naal. Nava Punjab Nava team da naal,” he said in Punjabi.The state needed a government that could rise above petty considerations of regionalism, and think about the nation as a whole.“I owe much to Punjab. I’m indebted to Punjab. I want to serve you,” he said.While most of his speech was reserved for critiquing the Congress, he took a swipe at former allies, the Shiromani Akali Dal. He said Punjab should have got a deputy chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party in Parkash Singh Badal’s government.Badal however made his son Sukhbir Badal the state’s deputy chief minister, robbing the BJP of the chance.“Still, we thought only of the state and its people,” he said in his speech.ND’s chief ministerial candidate Amarinder Singh also spoke briefly, praising Narendra Modi’s leadership and calling him a strong Prime Minister.“At a time when Punjab’s surrounded by Pakistan, China, and the Taliban, I’m glad Modiji is our prime minister,” Capt Amarinder Singh said in his speech. He said Punjab and the central government needed to work together to deal with Punjab’s financial crisis. “Punjab’s drowning in debt,” he said.He said his former party, the Congress, and its leaders kept saying how he loved the BJP.“Today I say I do. I love Narendra Modi and I love Amit Shah.”The BJP is contesting the elections to the 117-member Punjab assembly in alliance with the Amarinder Singh-led Punjab Lok Congress and the Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt).Punjab will vote for the 117-member assembly on February 20. Votes will be counted on March 10.
