Be battle ready for 2027 Punjab assembly polls, Warring asks Congress workers

Khanna (Punjab), Aug 15 (PTI) Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring Friday gave a clarion call to party workers to be battle ready for the 2027 state assembly elections and also said people were looking forward to his party.

Addressing an event here organised in memory of Shaheed Karnail Singh Issru who laid down his life for the liberation of Goa, he said that it was his dream to see the Congress return to power in Punjab.

He also said that he was not a claimant for the chief minister's post.

Warring said the Aam Aadmi Party government was "completely discredited" and people were eagerly waiting to "get rid of it".

The AAP pushed Punjab towards "bankruptcy", he claimed.

He said the AAP wanted to take away the land of farmers to finance various schemes with that money and congratulated the farmers of the state who firmly stood against the land pooling policy, which forced the government to withdraw it.

Warring also dispelled the notion that the Congress was divided in the state.

He made it categorically clear that there was no factionalism in the Punjab Congress and every leaders were working with each other to see the party winning the 2027 elections.

He said the coming one-and-a-half years were very crucial for the party as well as the state.

The PCC president also lashed out at the BJP-led Centre over the "vote chori" accusations and said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had "exposed" Prime Minister Narendra Modi as how the BJP was "manipulating" the electoral rolls to win the elections.

He said even in Haryana, a general perception was created that the Congress lost due to factionalism, but the party actually lost the polls due to the "electoral fraud" committed by the BJP.

He cautioned against similar "machinations" by the BJP and the AAP in Punjab also.

Among those who addressed the event included AICC Secretary Ravindra Dalvi, Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa, and former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.

Congress leader Bajwa slammed the AAP government in Punjab, accusing it of "failing" on all fronts.

"Law and order has completed collapsed as gang wars, targeted killings, and drug mafia rule the streets. CM Bhagwant Mann spends more time doing PR than protecting citizens," he charged.

Bajwa further criticised AAP for Punjab's "worsening fiscal crisis", claiming that the state debt ballooned from Rs 2.5 lakh crore in 2022 to over Rs 4 lakh crore now.

"Instead of creating jobs, attracting investment, or supporting farmers, this government is busy advertising itself across India using Punjab's money," he alleged.

Bajwa reminded people of Congress' legacy of governance and development.

"Under Congress stalwarts like Partap Singh Kairon, Punjab saw an era of unmatched progress, from building robust infrastructure to making Punjab the food bowl of India. It was the Congress that gave farmers irrigation, industries investment, and youth employment," he said. PTI CHS KVK KVK