Will give massive thrashing to Badal for atrocities on Dalits, says Amarinder

Pitted against Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in the upcoming Punjab polls, state Congress chief Amarinder Singh on Saturday vowed to give “dusht” (wicked) Badal a massive thrashing in Lambi Assembly segment for his “atrocities” against Dalits and other sections of the society during the 10 years of his “misrule”.

Addressing a series of election rallies in the Malwa belt, including at Bassi Pathana, Payal and Amloh, Amarinder flayed the Badals for “ruining” the state with their “lootmaar” (plundering) and also, lashed out at AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal for “planning to loot” Punjab by “misleading the people with false promises”.

He lambasted the Badals for their “criminalisation” of Punjab through “patronisation” of the transport, sand, liquor mafia etc.

“Badals’ buses have been killing innocent people, while the entire state is reeling under a total collapse triggered by their misgovernance and corrupt policies,” the former chief minister alleged and promised the revival of the state’s growth and uplift of the backward sections through various public welfare schemes, including reservations in jobs, free housing and education as well as expansion of the atta-dal scheme to encompass free sugar and tea.

“Baabe nunh Lambi vich kuttanga (will thrash the old man in Lambi),” said Amarinder.

He described Badal’s sangat darshan programmes as a “waste” of public money, while also castigating the chief minister for “allowing” incidents of sacrilege to mar the state’s communal harmony.

He described the incidents as an “attempt by the Akalis to polarise Punjab’s society” ahead of the polls, alleging that Badal was not a “true believer” of ‘Sikhi’ (Sikhism) since he was “indulging in spreading communal disharmony”.

Amarinder said atrocities against Dalits had increased manifold, from 651 in 2007 to 12,834 by 2015.

Promising to bring the Dalits back into the mainstream of the society with welfare schemes as promised in the party manifesto, the state Congress chief said he would ensure that all those found guilty of any crime against the community were given exemplary punishment.